Towable air vehicle

ABSTRACT

An unmanned, towable air vehicle is described and includes electronic sensors to increase the detection range relative to the horizon detection limitations of a surface craft, an autogyro assembly to provide lift, and a controller to control operation the autogyro assembly for unmanned flight. A forward motive force powers the autogyro assembly to provide lift. In an example, the autogyro assembly includes a mast extending from the container, a rotatable hub on an end of the mast, and a plurality of blades connected to the hub for rotation to provide lift to the vehicle. In an example, an electrical motor rotates the blades prior to lift off to assist in take off. The electrical motor does not have enough power to sustain flight of the vehicle in an example.

The present application also claims benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/376,248, filed 23 Aug. 2010, titled “MARITIME TOWABLEAIR VEHICLE,” which is hereby incorporated by reference for any purpose.The present application is related to U.S. Provisional Application No.61/285,966, filed 9 Dec. 2009; U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/785,420, filed 21 May 2010; and PCT Application No.PCT/US2010/035887, filed 22 May 2010, all of which are herebyincorporated by reference for any purpose.

FIELD

The present disclosure related to an unmanned towable air vehicle, andmore particularly, to an unmanned autogyro for use in maritime and/orsurveillance environments.

BACKGROUND

An autogyro aircraft is piloted by a person and derives lift from anunpowered, freely rotating rotary wing or plurality of rotary blades.The energy to rotate the rotary wing results from the forward movementof the aircraft in response to a thrusting engine such as an onboardmotor that drives a propeller. During the developing years of aviationaircraft, autogyro aircraft were proposed to avoid the problem ofaircraft stalling in flight and to reduce the need for runways. Therelative airspeed of the rotating wing is independent of the forwardairspeed of the autogyro, allowing slow ground speed for takeoff andlanding, and safety in slow-speed flight. Engines are controlled by thepilot and may be tractor-mounted on the front of the pilot orpusher-mounted behind the pilot on the rear of the autogyro. Airflowpassing the rotary wing, which is tilted upwardly toward the front ofthe autogyro, provides the driving force to rotate the wing. TheBernoulli Effect of the airflow moving over the rotary wing surfacecreates lift.

U.S. Pat. No. 1,590,497 issued to Juan de la Cierva of Madrid, Spain,illustrated a very early embodiment of a manned autogyro. Subsequently,de la Cierva obtained U.S. Pat. No. 1,947,901 which recognized theinfluence of the angle of attack of the blade of a rotary wing. Theoptimum angle of attack for the blades or rotary wing was described byPitcairn in U.S. Pat. No. 1,977,834 at about the same time. In U.S. Pat.No. 2,352,342, Pitcairn disclosed an autogyro with blades which werehinged relative to the hub.

Even though the principal focus for low speed flight appears to haveshifted to helicopters, there appears to have been some continuinginterest in autogyro craft. However, development efforts appear to havelargely been restricted to refinements of the early patented systems.For instance, Salisbury, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 1,838,327, showed asystem to change the lift to drag response of a rotary wing.

The value of being able to elevate a sensor for surveillance isrecognized in the art. Flight vehicles offer the opportunity to elevatea sensor to great advantage, the earliest military examples of thisbeing the use of tethered balloons.

Tethered balloons and aerostats remain in use today for surveillance,but can require significant resources to transport, set-up, maintain,and tear down, limiting their utility to specific applications. Greatreliance has instead been placed on the use of piloted surveillanceaircraft (such as airplanes and helicopters. While aircraft operationsoffer tremendous mobility and flexibility, they also come at significantexpense, significant facility and logistical burdens, and with limitedflight endurance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of an air vehicle according to an example of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of an air vehicle according to an example of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a front view of an air vehicle according to an example of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4A is a schematic view of components of an air vehicle according toan example of the present invention;

FIG. 4B is a schematic view of components of an air vehicle according toan example of the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a schematic view of a controller for the air vehicleaccording to an example of the present invention;

FIG. 5B is a schematic view of a controller and sensor assembly for theair vehicle according to an example of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an air vehicle during takeoff according toan example of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an air vehicle during flight according toan example of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of an air vehicle during release according toan example of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of an air vehicle during landing according toan example of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a view of an air vehicle with a propulsion system accordingto an example of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of an air vehicle method according to an exampleof the present invention; and

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of an air vehicle method according to an exampleof the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of an air vehicle method according to an exampleof the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart of an air vehicle method according to an exampleof the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic view of a maritime use of the air vehicleaccording to an example of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a schematic view of a maritime use of the air vehicleaccording to an example of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a schematic view of a maritime use of the air vehicleaccording to an example of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a schematic view of a maritime use of the air vehicleaccording to an example of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of an air vehicle according to an exampleof the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of an air vehicle according to an exampleof the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of an air vehicle according to an exampleof the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of an air vehicle according to an exampleof the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of an air vehicle according to an exampleof the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of an air vehicle according to an exampleof the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a perspective view of an air vehicle according to an exampleof the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a schematic view of an air vehicle according to an example ofthe present invention.

FIGS. 27A-27D are schematic views of an extended and folded air vehicleaccording to an example of the present invention.

FIGS. 28A-28F are views of an air vehicle winch assembly, according toan example of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present inventors have recognized the need for improved electronicsystems in the maritime and surveillance areas. The unmanned air vehicleas described herein can be used to improve performance in the maritimeand surveillance areas.

The present inventors have recognized the need for more efficientdelivery of cargo and services and addressed this need through the useof unmanned autogyros. Modern commerce and military plans requireefficient delivery of needed supplies, equipment, and parts. However,air delivery is limited by the weight and bulk that a given aircraft cancarry. For example, a Cessna 172 with a single pilot can carry a payloadof 400 lb. or 30 cubic feet; a Cessna 182 with a single pilot can carrya payload of 500 lb. or 32 cubic ft.; a Caravan 650 Super Cargomasterwith two pilots can carry a payload of 2,500 lb. or 451 cubic ft.Helicopters also have limited cargo capacity: a Robinson 44 with asingle pilot can carry a maximum payload of 500 lb. in 25 cubic ft.; aRobinson 22 with a single pilot can carry a maximum payload of 200 lb.in 16 cubic ft.; a Bell 206B with a single pilot can carry a maximumpayload of 700 lb. in 30 cubic ft. Much of a helicopter's cargocapacity, either weight or volume, is taken up by a heavy engine, heavytransmission, tail rotor assembly, etc. Moreover, such a delivery methodis expensive as operating costs of a manned aircraft are quite high.With the above problem recognized, the inventors developed an unmannedaircraft that can deliver cargo in an efficient manner, e.g., moreinexpensive per trip, per weight, and/or by volume. A towable airvehicle was developed, by the present inventors, that includes anautogyro, and hence its own lift. The air vehicle can act as a trailerto a powered aircraft. The present vehicle can carry cargo that is atleast 100% of the volume that the towing aircraft can carry. Examples ofthe presently described vehicle can further carry about 75% or more ofthe weight of the cargo of the towing aircraft. Accordingly, arelatively small unmanned autogyro can carry sophisticated electronicdevices for surveillance, for example, in a maritime environment oralong a border.

Using autogyro technology with an on-board automated control system, thevehicle can fly safely behind a towing aircraft, boat, or land basedmotorized vehicle. In an example, the control system can automaticallyland the air vehicle. In another example, the control system can sensevarious flight and air vehicle characteristics and automatically controlthe settings of the air vehicle, including the autogyro means fordifferent phases of flight, e.g., takeoff, towed flight, free flight,and landing. The control system can further control other electronicdevices onboard the air vehicle. The other electronic devices can berelated to surveillance or deceptive electronic countermeasures.

In an aspect of the present invention, an air vehicle includes threecomponents, namely, a container to hold cargo, an autogyro assembly ormeans connected to the container and to provide flight characteristics,and electronics including a controller to control operation of theautogyro assembly for unmanned flight, which can include at least one oftakeoff, towed flight, free flight, and landing. The container includesa connection that connects the air vehicle to a unit that providesforward motive force to power the autogyro assembly. Examples of suchunits includes a boat, submarine, aircraft, automobile, winch,motorcycle, or other apparatus that can move the autogyro forward toprovide the lift required by the air vehicle. In an example, theautogyro assembly includes a mast extending from the container, arotatable hub on an end of the mast, and a plurality of blades,connected to the hub, for rotation to provide lift to the air vehicle.The autogyro assembly can include a rotor shaft position sensing system.In an example, an electrical pre-rotor rotates the blades prior to liftoff to assist in take off. The electrical pre-rotor does not have enoughpower to sustain flight of the vehicle in an example. The containersupports sensor systems that can be adapted to indicate load, weight andbalance of the cargo supported by the container. In an example, thesensor system can be an airspeed indicator sensor. The sensor system caninclude a position sensing system. The sensor system can include Pitotsensors, which sense the air speed. In some embodiments, the containeris not required and a frame is all that is needed. The sensor systemscan also include surveillance systems, radar systems, electronicprotection, and other electronic warfare systems.

The controller can sense various flight characteristics and process thesensed data to control the rotational speed of the hub or blades, angleof attack of the hub and plurality of rotating blades, and the pitch ofthe blades. In an example, the controller senses forward motion, e.g.,velocity or acceleration, to control the autogyro assembly. In anexample, the controller can receive signals from remote transmitters,e.g., a land based transmitter or from the towing aircraft. Thecontroller can adjust components of the autogyro assembly using thereceived signal. In an example, the controller outputs blade pitchcontrol signals to operate actuators that set the angle of blades. In anexample, the controller outputs control signals to operate actuatorsthat control the position of at least one of vertical stabilizers andhorizontal stabilizers.

The container can enclose a volume within a body to hold cargo. The bodyis defined by a frame on which a skin is fixed. An undercarriage isprovided that contacts the ground for landings and takeoffs. A rearstabilizer is provided to improve the flight characteristics of the airvehicle. In an example, the undercarriage includes a trolley thatcontacts the ground to provide mobility and is removable from rest ofthe container. In an example, the container encloses the electronics forthe sensor and communication devices against adverse weather. Thecontainer, in some embodiments, is sized to only hold the electronicsand is not for carrying significant payloads.

For some surveillance applications, it is possible to achieve theutility and long endurance of a tethered lifting body, but utilizing anunpowered rotor. The result is a platform that remains physically smallby comparison to lighter than air vehicles. Specifically, by tetheringthe aircraft, an unpowered rotor can provide the necessary lift givensufficient wind speed. With sufficient wind speed, a properly sizedunpowered autogyro that is tethered to a fixed location can be used tolift itself and a desired surveillance payload.

Given that winds aloft are quite dependable at most locations,embodiments of the present invention describe a tethered autogyro thatcan be employed to lift a sensor for the conduct of stationarysurveillance for indefinite and extended periods of time. Specifically,the autogyro flight vehicle is sized to enable sufficient lift to enablesustained operation at altitude with a suitable sensor payload andtether. Stored onboard electric power is applied to the rotor for thepurpose of climb to altitude to reach the necessary winds, and, ifneeded to control descent and landing. The tether is sized to secure theflight vehicle to the selected ground location, and to allow fortransmission of the electrical power and signals required to manage thevehicle and payload once at altitude. A powered winch may be used tomanage the tether during launch and recovery. Anti-torque can be used tooffset the rotor torque during powered flight segments. During flight,takeoff and landing, electrically-actuated cyclic rotor inputs are usedto stabilize the vehicle attitude. The capability to produce forwardthrust enables positive control over the vehicle trajectory duringlaunch and recovery.

With this system being fully automated, it will be possible to transportit to a desired location in a small vehicle (e.g., truck, small boat orother water craft), to have a small crew (e.g. two persons) successfullylaunch the vehicle in a short period of time (e.g. less than one hour),to establish stationary surveillance aloft and sustain it for anindefinite period of time, and when required, to quickly recover thevehicle and move out of the area. Smaller versions may be man packable.

FIGS. 1, 2, and 3A show a side view, a top view, and a front view of anunmanned air vehicle 100. The unmanned air vehicle 100 is an autogyrovehicle that flies based at least in part on the lift created byrotating airfoil blades. The operating principal is the same as a fixedwing airplane with the airfoil blades rotating. The air vehicle 100includes an undercarriage 103 on which is supported a container 105 andautogyro assembly 110. The undercarriage 103 is to contact the groundand support the container 105. The undercarriage 103 can be simple feetthat are designed to contact the ground. The undercarriage 103 as shownincludes a frame 111 on which are mounted mobility devices 113 thatcontact the ground and allow the vehicle 100 to move on the ground. Themobility devices 113 can include wheels, pontoons, and/or skis (asshown). The frame 111 supports the container 105. In a further example,the undercarriage 103 is releasably mounted to a trolley on which ismounted mobility device(s). The undercarriage 103 can further include aplurality of supports 114, e.g., cross members at the front and rear ofthe container 105 from which legs extend downwardly from the container.The mobility devices 113 are fixed at the downward ends of the legs.Supports 114 can include sensors 115 that measure the weight ordisplacement at each of the legs. Sensors 115 communicate the senseddata to the controller, e.g., controller 401.

The container 105 is shown as an enclosed body 120 that defines aninterior volume in which cargo or electronic means can be stored. In anexample, the container 105 includes a platform on which cargo is stored.The body 120 can be fabricated out of wood, composites, carbon fiber,plastic, polymer or lightweight metal. These rigid materials can form aframe on which a skin is fixed. The wood body can be a limited use body,e.g., one-time use. The container 105 can have a high strength internalframe with a lightweight skin fixed thereto. The skin can be a fabric, athin plastic, a carbon fiber fabric, or a thin, lightweight metal skin.The enclosed body 120 has essentially smooth outer surfaces and anarrowed, leading nose 122. The body can further be a monocoque design,whereby the external skin supports the structural load. In an example,the body has a semi-monocoque design in which the body is partiallysupported by the outer skin and can have some frame elements that alsosupport the structural load. The body 120 can further include doors thatcan be opened for loading and securely closed during flight. The doorscan be positioned on the sides, in the nose, or in the tail. The doorscan further be designed to be opened during flight to release variousmeans for counter electronic warfare or to expose sensors to the openair.

A stabilizer system 126 is on the body 120 to assist in flight. Here asshown, the stabilizer system is a rear stabilizer. The rear stabilizer126 includes a central horizontal tailplane 127, which can include anelevator that is moveable vertically by an actuator, which is controlledby the controller, and a vertical fin 128 is mounted to a respective endof the tailplane 127. The vertical fins 128 can be fixed. In an example,the vertical fins 128 are connected to actuators 129 that move thevertical fins horizontally in response to signals from the controller.The horizontal tailplane 127 is spaced from the rear of the body 120such that a gap is between the rearward edge of the body 120 and theleading edge of the tailplane 127. It will be recognized that thestabilizer system 126 can be shaped or designed to better stabilize thevehicle based on the various shapes of the body, loads it will carry,towing power of the towing vehicle (e.g., boat, aircraft or automobile),and turbulence. The stabilizer system 126 can be positioned to best aidin stable flight of the vehicle 100. In various example, the stabilizersystem can include a T-tail, J-tail, V-tail, cruciform tail, twin tail,among others.

In an example, an air vehicle having a container 105 that can be towedby Cessna 172, Super Cub, or other similar aircraft can hold about 1,000lbs (+/−100 lbs.) of cargo in a volume of about 154 cubic ft. (+/−10cubic feet). The cargo volume of the container store cargo of a maximumlength of about 12 ft. (+/− one foot). In this example, the body 120 hasa length, nose to rear of 18.5 feet and a height of 5 feet. The rearstabilizer 126 extends partly onto the body and is attached thereto by aplurality of connections on each of the vertical fins 128. The rearstabilizer 126 adds about two feet onto the length of the vehicle.Smaller containers can be used to house electronic systems and can betowed by boats, e.g., patrol boats (regular and river), specialoperations watercraft, aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers,frigates, corvettes, submarines, and amphibious assault ships. Such anair vehicle being towed behind a watercraft would increase the detectionrange to determine potential threats at an earlier opportunity and/orincrease the time for identification of other airborne vehicles, groundvehicles or watercraft.

The container 105 further includes a connection 150 at which a tow line(not shown in FIG. 1, 2, or 3A) can be attached so that a tug craft(towing means) can provide motive force to the vehicle 100. In anexample, the connection 150 can be a glider tow connection. Examples ofa glider tow connection can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,425,309;2,453,139; 2,520,620; and 2,894,763, which are incorporated herein byreference for any purpose. However, if any of these incorporated patentsconflict with any of the present disclosure, the present disclosurecontrols interpretation. One example of a tow connection 150 is a hookmounted on the front of the vehicle 100, e.g., on the container 120 orthe frame 103. A similar connection can be on the rear of the tug ortowing craft. In an example, the hook is on the towing craft (e.g., thebottom of the tug aircraft, specifically, on the tailwheel structure oron the bottom of the fuselage). In the case of a water or ground basedtowing craft, the hook would be on top or above the towing craft. In anexample, the hook would be at a high point on a watercraft to reduce thechance of entanglement with the tow line. In an example, the hook wouldbe at an aft location (stern) on the watercraft to reduce the chance ofentanglement with the tow line. The hook can be part of a winch that cancontrol the length of the line extending out from the craft to the aircraft 100. Examples of the hook include a Schweizer hitch, a Tost hitch,and an Ottfur hook. The hook is to hold an end of the tow line, forexample, a ring fixed to an end of the tow line. On the tug craft thehook is open toward the front of the aircraft and the ring and tow lineextend rearward from the tug craft. A release mechanism allows a personin the craft to release the ring from the hook by moving the hook sothat it opens from the tow position to a release position such that thehook is open more rearward than in the tow position. The releasemechanism can be linkage connected by a release line to the pilot whocan change position of the hook by moving a lever connected to therelease line. The same mechanisms, e.g., hook, and release mechanism,are mounted on the vehicle 100. The hook on the vehicle 100 is openrearward so that the tow line is secure during flight.

The tow line and/or the rings can have a weak link that will fail if theforces between the air vehicle 100 and the tug craft are too great.These weak links are designed to fail and release the air vehicle 100 ifa force between the tug craft and the vehicle may result in catastrophicfailure for either the vehicle or the tug craft. In the event of a weaklink release of the air vehicle from the towing craft, the controller onboard the air vehicle 100 and execute flight instructions, which can bestored in on-board memory, to fly the vehicle 100.

The tow line between the tug aircraft and the vehicle 100 can provideelectrical transmissions, e.g., electrical power, from the tug craft tothe vehicle 100. In an example, the tow line can further providebidirectional communication between the tug craft and the vehicle 100,in particular to the vehicle controller. The electrical transmissionscan be secure data-by-wire transmissions that may be more secure thanbroadcast radio communication. The electrical transmissions can includeradar data, optical data, weather data, surveillance data, or otherelectronic warfare data.

The autogyro assembly or means 110 is fixed to a central location on thebody 105. The autogyro assembly 110 includes an upwardly extending mast130. A hub 132 is rotatably mounted on the upward end of the mast 130.The hub 132 supports a plurality of blade supports 134 on which airfoilblades 135 are mounted. The blades are shown in FIG. 1 and not FIGS. 2and 3 for clarity. The blades 135 can be manufactured from aluminum,honeycombed aluminum, composite laminates of resins, fiber glass, and/orother natural materials, and/or carbon fiber. The blade supports 134,and hence, blades, are provided in opposed pairs. In an example, theblades are an equal number of opposed pairs of blades. In an example,the number of blades is four (two pairs of opposed blades). In anexample, the blades can be of any number of blades that are equallyspaced in the plane of rotation. In an example, three blades areprovided and are spaced about 120 degrees from each other. The airfoilblades 135 have a cross sectional shape that resembles an airplane wingto provide lift during flight. The autogyro assembly 110 includesactuators that control the rotational position of the blades 135.Stanchions or guide wires 137 extend from the body 105 to the top of themast 130 to stabilize the mast during flight and from the forces exertedthereon by the rotation of the hub 132 and blades 135.

The airfoil blades 135 can be retracted to be adjacent the hub orremoved from the hub 132 for further transport of the vehicle orrecovery of at least some components of the vehicle. Examples of furthertransport can include sailing the vehicle on a boat, loading the vehicleon a truck, or loading the vehicle inside an airplane. In an example,the airfoil blades 135 are removed, as desired, from the hub 134. Theairfoil blades 135 can be unitary and single elongate bodies. Thesebodies can be made from metal, natural composites, wood, carbon fiberlayers, resins, plastics, or semisynthetic organic amorphous solidmaterials, polymers, and combinations thereof. The blades 135 can thenbe transported back to an airfield and reused on a different autogyroassembly. In an example, the blades 135 from a plurality of vehicles arestored in one of the vehicles for a return flight from its missionlocation to a home airfield. In this example, only one of the vehicles100 need be flown from its destination to retrieve the more costly partsof other vehicles. Other components such as the controller, sensors, andhub can also be removed from vehicles that will not be recovered andstored in a vehicle that will be recovered.

In an example, the airfoil blades 135 are foldable such that they havean extended position for flight and a retracted position for non-flight.An example of retractable airfoil blades is described in U.S. PatentPublication No. 2009/0081043, which is incorporated herein by referencefor any purpose. However, if U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0081043conflicts with any of the present disclosure, the present disclosurecontrols interpretation. Thus, during ground transportation or duringother non-flight times the blades 135 are retracted such that theairfoil blades do not interfere with ground crews or experience forceson the blades during ground movement. The airfoil blades 135 can furtherbe folded for storage on the deck of a ship or below decks in a maritimeuse of the air vehicle 100.

The airfoil blades 135 have at least one section that has an airfoilprofile. This section of the blade 135 has a shape when viewed incross-section that has a rounded leading edge and a sharp, pointedtrailing edge. A chord is defined from the leading edge to the trailingedge. The chord asymmetrically divides blade into an upper camber and alower camber. The upper camber is greater than the lower camber.Moreover, the upper and lower cambers can vary along the length of thesection and entire airfoil blade. The airfoil blade moves through theair and the passage of air over the blade produces a force perpendicularto the motion called lift. The chord defines the angle of attack forthat section of the blade. The angle of attack can be defined as theangle between the chord and a vector representing the relative motionbetween the aircraft and the atmosphere. Since an airfoil blade can havevarious shapes, a chord line along the entire length of the airfoilblade may not be uniformly definable and may change along the length ofthe blade.

FIG. 4A shows a schematic view of the autogyro assembly 110, whichincludes the mast 130, hub 132, blade supports 134, and airfoil blades135. The autogyro assembly 110 further includes a controller 401, anelectrical motor 403, a plurality of actuators 405, and a power source410 connected to each device in need of electrical power. The controller401 is in communication with the electrical motor 401 and actuators 405to control operation thereof. The controller 401 can further communicatewith sensors 412 to receive performance data that can be used to controlcomponents of the autogyro assembly. In an example, the controller 401controls operation of various moveable components such that the vehicle100 flies unmanned. In this example unmanned means that there is nohuman being on board the vehicle 100 to control flight of the vehicle100. The controller 401 can further control flight of the vehicle 100being towed by another aircraft.

The controller 401 can control operation of the electrical motor 403that rotates a drive shaft connected to the hub 132 to rotate theairfoil blades 135. The motor 403 adds rotational power to the rotorsystem to reduce drag and assist in the lift provided by the airfoilblades 135. This can help the vehicle 100 achieve flight. The motor 403,in an example, does not provide sufficient power to sustain flight ofthe air vehicle 100. In an example, the motor 403 can provide sufficientpower to the rotating airfoil blades 135 such that the vehicle 100 canlaunch the vehicle in a cargo-free state. The motor 403 can furtherprovide rotational power that can be used to reduce blade angle ofattack, prevent rotor decay of RPM speed, improve landing glide slopeand decrease the decent speed. These features may be described ingreater detail with regard to operational of the vehicle, e.g. FIGS.6-9.

The controller 401 controls operation of the actuators 405, whichcontrol the tilt of the airfoil blades 135. During prerotation of theblades 135 prior to takeoff, the actuators 135 hold the blades in a flatposition that has a very low angle of incidence, e.g., 0 degrees, lessthan 5 degrees, or less than 10 degrees. Prerotation is the rotation ofthe airfoil blades prior to take off or rotation of the blades by theonboard motor. Once the blades 135 are at a desired rotational speed,the actuators 405 can drive the blades to a takeoff position with anangle of incidence greater than the prerotation, flat position and aflight position. Once the vehicle 100 is in flight, the actuators 405can reduce the angle of incidence relative to the takeoff angle to theflight position. The flight position of the actuators 405 and blades 135is greater than the prerotation position. In another example, theactuators 405 release the blades 135 during flight so they can find theoptimum angle of incidence without influence by the actuators 405.

In some embodiments, there is no pre-rotation of the blades by anon-board motor; instead the forward movement of the vehicle relative tothe air (wind or forward movement by the towing craft) will start therotation of the blades.

In a flight profile of the vehicle 100, the flat, prerotation positionof the blades 135 results in a zero angle of incidence to reduce drag onthe blades during prerotation such that a smaller motor and power sourcecan be used. At takeoff, the blades 135 are set at an angle of incidenceof about 12 degrees. Each of the degree measurements in this paragraphcan be in a range of +/− one degree. During flight, the blades 135 areset at an angle of incidence of about 5 degrees. During the approach,the blades 135 are set at an angle of incidence of about 12 degrees.During the landing the blades 135 are set at an angle of incidence ofabout 20 degrees or more.

The air vehicle 100 can result in a 50% increase or more in cargocapacity relative to the towing craft. In an example, the vehicle 100can tow about half of the gross weight of the towing aircraft. In someexamples, the air vehicle 100 results in a 75% to 100% increase in cargocapacity with cargo capacity measured by weight. A further benefit isthe air vehicle having a body that can hold larger, either in length,width, or height than the towing aircraft as the vehicle 100 does nothave all of the design constraints that a manned aircraft must have.

As the air vehicle 100 can fly in an unmanned configuration with asignificant cargo relative to its own size and weight, it can be madesmall when it only carrying electronic or optical surveillanceequipment. In an example, the air vehicle can have a mass of about 25and up to provide adequate electronic surveillance. In some examples,the air vehicle 100 can be in the range of about 25-700 kg. This reducesmass and size can further reduce the radar image of the vehicle 100 andthe ability to optically detect the vehicle 100 by a person or throughelectro-optical means.

An actuator 420 is connected to the mast 130 to move the mastlongitudinally and laterally to correct for unbalanced loads in thecontainer. In an example, there is a plurality of actuators 420, whichcan be screw jacks that are electrically powered. Load sensors, e.g.,sensors 115, sense the deflection of container on the frame and feedthis data to the controller 401. The controller 401 calculates the loadpositioning, including empty weight (for different vehicle 100configurations) and center of gravity. The controller 401 can indicateto the ground crew how much more cargo, by weight, the vehicle cansafely fly. The controller 401 further calculates the center of gravitybased on data from the load sensors. The controller can engage theactuator(s) 420 to move the autogyro assembly 110 forward and aft, andleft or right to keep the mast and hub, and hence the point of rotationof the blades, as close to the center of gravity as possible. In anexample, the actuators 420 are jack-screws that precisely position themast 130. If the autogyro assembly 110 cannot be moved to sufficientlyto center the autogyro assembly 110, e.g. mast and hub, at the center ofgravity, then the controller 401 will issue an error message to theground crew. Messages to the ground crew can be displayed on videodisplay 510, stored in memory 504 or 506 or sent view network interfacedevice 520 over a network 526 to other devices, e.g., handheld devices,for display.

Referring now to FIG. 4B, an example hub 132 is shown that includes amain body 450 that includes top 452 that defines an opening in which theairfoil blades 136 or blade supports 134 are fixed. Shock bumpers 455engage the top of the airfoil blades 136 or blade supports 134 in thebody 450 to prevent mast bumping. In an example, the body 450 is fixedto a drive gear 457 that can be engaged by the motor 403 through a driveshaft 458 or manually to rotate the hub body 450 and the blades attachedthereto. In another example, the main body 450 is fixed on a universaljoint 460 that can be fixed to a drive shaft that extends in the mastfrom the motor 403 to the hub 132. In another example, the main body 450and drive gear 457 rotate on the joint 460. The joint 460 allows themain body 450 to be tilted vertically such that the airfoil blade istilts downwardly from the front to the back to create and angle ofincidence. An actuator 480 controls the amount of tilt of the airfoilblades. The controller 401, based on its application of its stored rulesand the sensor inputs, sends signals to the actuator 480 to control theangle of incidence of the airfoil blades. In an example, the actuator480 is positioned at the front of the hub 132. Thus, the actuator 480controls the pivot of the hub on axis 482.

FIG. 5A shows an example of the controller 401 within which a set ofinstructions are to be executed causing the vehicle 100 to perform anyone or more of the methods, processes, operations, or methodologiesdiscussed herein. In an example, the controller 401 can include thefunctionality of the computer system.

In an example embodiment, the controller 401 operates as a standalonedevice or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other controllers. In anetworked deployment, the one controller can operate in the capacity ofa server (master controller) or a client in server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. Further, while only a single controller isillustrated, the term “controller” shall also be taken to include anycollection of devices that individually or jointly execute a set (ormultiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

The example controller 401 includes a processor 502 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU) or application specific integrated chip (ASIC)), amain memory 504, and a static memory 506, which communicate with eachother via a bus 508. The controller 401 can include a video display unit510 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)).The controller 401 also includes an alphanumeric input device 512 (e.g.,a keyboard), a cursor control device 514 (e.g., a mouse), a storagedrive unit 516 (disk drive or solid state drive), a signal generationdevice 518 (e.g., a speaker, optical output, etc.), and an interfacedevice 520.

The drive unit 516 includes a machine-readable medium 522 on which isstored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 524) embodyingany one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. Thesoftware 524 can also reside, completely or at least partially, withinthe main memory 504 and/or within the processor 502 during executionthereof by the controller 401, the main memory 504 and the processor 502also constituting machine-readable media. The software 524 can furtherbe transmitted or received over a network 526 via the network interfacedevice 520.

While the machine-readable medium 522 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should betaken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralizedor distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) thatstore the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by acomputer or computing device, e.g., controller 401, or other machine andthat cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesshown in the various embodiments of the present invention. The term“machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but notbe limited to, solid-state memories and optical and magnetic media.Carrier wave signals can further communicate the instructions to thecontroller.

The interface device 520 is further configured to receive radiofrequency signals. These signals can trigger certain operations to becommanded by the controller 401. In an example, a signal can be sentfrom the motive unit, e.g., an airplane, ship, boat, land vehicle or ahelicopter, and received by the interface device 520.

The controller 401 executes flight control instructions without the needfor an on-board pilot. The controller 401 includes multiple flight rulesfor different phases of flight, i.e., takeoff, cruise, unaided flight,and landing phases. The controller 401 controls the pitch for each ofthese different phases by data from the sensors and applying this datausing the flight control instructions. Pitch is the position of theplane in which the blades travel relative to a horizontal plane(essentially parallel to the ground).

The controller 401 can further store data and instructions forautonomous return flight. The controller 401 can store the weight ofvehicle 100 absent cargo. As the cargo can be up to about 80% of thegross weight of the vehicle 100 during a delivery flight, it isenvisioned that the motor 403 may be able to rotate the blades 135 toachieve take-off. In an example, the vehicle 100 is positioned so thatit faces into a headwind. The headwind provides a relative forwardwindspeed against the airfoil blades 135. The controller 401 instructsthe motor to rotate the blades and the vehicle can be airborne. Anotherexample of self flight is described below with reference to FIG. 11,which can be used in conjunction with the present example. Onceairborne, the controller 401 can sense the position of the vehicle 100,for example, using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) such asGlobal Positioning System (GPS), Beidou, COMPASS, Galileo, GLONASS,Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS), or QZSS. Thenavigational system can include a receiver that receives differentialcorrection signals in North American from the FAA's WAAS system.

FIG. 5B shows an example of a flight system 530, which includes acontroller 401 in communication with a data base 516 and a communicationsystem 590. A plurality of sensors are to sense various flight datainputs, communicate the sensed data to the controller 401 for processingusing the processor or for storage in the database 516, and for sensoror performing surveillance and/or electronic warfare. As describedherein the controller 401 includes processor 502 and local memory 504.Database 516 is protectively mounted with the controller in a black boxthat secures the database and processor from harm during takeoffs,landing, non-authorized intrusions, and unscheduled landings. Thedatabase 516 can include a cartography database 531 that stores theterrain information that is or could be part of the vehicles flightpath. The cartography database 531 can store data relating to physicaltraits, including but not limited to roads, land masses, rivers, lakes,ponds, groundcover, satellite imagery or abstract data including, butnot limited to, toponyms or political boundaries. Encryption rules anddata 533 can also be stored in the database. The encryption can be usedfor communication with other vehicles or the towing craft. Flight rules535 are stored in the database. The flight rules 535 can be adapted forthe type of flight and to the towing craft. For example, being towed byan aircraft would be assigned different flight rules than being towed bya ship or boat. A flight rules applied by the controller can also changefor tethered flight or released/untethered flight. The processor 502 canaccess the cartography database 531, encryption rules or data 533, andother stored rules 535 to calculate a desired flight path and or correctfor various obstacles or flight path deviations.

The database 516 can also store surveillance algorithms 550 that can beimplemented in the computing or electronics system to performsurveillance or electronic warfare tactics. In an example, thesurveillance algorithms 550 can implement electronic protection suchthat the vehicle 100 can perform to protect itself, and the tow craft.As a result, personnel, facilities and equipment can be protectedadverse effects of friendly or enemy employment of electronic warfarethat degrade, neutralize or destroy friendly combat capability. Thealgorithms 550 can implement passive electronic surveillance. Thealgorithms 550 can implement active electronic surveillance. Thealgorithms 550 can further implement evasive maneuvers by the vehicle100. The algorithms 550 can further implement measures that are designedto attract the attention of a potentially hostile engagement in anattempt to distract the enemy from the tow craft that may have personnelonboard.

The controller 401, and in an embodiment the processor, can invokevarious rules that can be stored in a memory and read by the controller.The loading of these flight rules sets the controller 401 to a specificmachine. In an example, the controller 401 checks the “if, and, or” filefor altitude restrictions, obstacles, restricted space during theplanning phase. As used herein a file is code that can be stored in amachine readable form and transmitted so as to be read and loaded intothe controller 401. During the “Takeoff, In Flight and Landing” phasesthe controller checks the flight sensor package including but notlimited to: rotor rpm sensor, rotor disk angle of attack sensor, load onwheels sensors, tow bridle angle horizontal and lateral position sensor,tow bridal load % rating, horizontal stabilizer angle and trail positionsensors.

Additional control rules and instructions include waypoint takeoff rulesthat result in the present position, e.g., as GPS grid coordinates,being entered into and stored in the controller 401. In an example, atleast one waypoint is entered into the controller 401. In an example,additional waypoints are entered. Any number of waypoint coordinates canbe entered. These waypoints generally define the flight path for the airvehicle 100. Alternate flight path waypoints can also be stored in thecontroller 401. Separate waypoints can be stored for the landingsequence. Known obstacles along the intended flight path (as can bedefined by the waypoints) can be stored in the controller for eachstored flight path and landing path. The controller 401 uses storedflight route (e.g., path), weight of the air vehicle as indicated by thelanding gear load sensors or determined by an external scale, and flightdata entered by the mission planning computer to recommend route changesto maintain the recommended vertical separation and ground clearancerequirements. In an example, the mission planning computer can calculatethese route changes and download them to the controller 401.

The controller 401 is connected to a takeoff sensor that senses when theload is removed from the landing gear sensor. The controller 401 thancan change from a takeoff setting to a flight setting. The controllercan delay the change to a flight setting until a certain altitude isreached. The controller 401 is also connected to a forward air speedthat can indicate when never exceed velocity (V_(NE)) is achieved orwhen a stall velocity is being approached. If a stall velocity isimminent, the controller 401 can release the tow line if still attachedto the tow aircraft. The controller 401 can also receive data relatingto the rotor's revolution speed (e.g., RPM). In an example, thecontroller 401 receives this data and can calculate the currentrevolution speed as a percentage of maximum speed. If the maximum speedis reached, the controller 401 can instruct a brake system to slow therotor speed. The controller can also act based on the rotor speed beingtoo low, e.g., start the pre-rotor motor, release the tow line,calculate an emergency landing, etc. An emergency landing calculationcan use the navigational system coordinates, stored maps (includingpopulation centers), requests for more information, calculation of adescent path, etc. The controller 401 can also receive data relating tooperation of an actuator to control a rotor disk angle of attack exceedan operational threshold, e.g., retraction or extension at a given rate(e.g., % per second).

The controller 401 can further receive data from a forward flight sensorand tracking controls. The data can include at least one of: forwardspeed from which a percent (%) of flight speed can be calculated; rotordisk angle of attack (e.g., from a mast sensor); tow angle of a bridle(to which the tow line is connected), which can be used to determine thealtitude difference relative to the towing aircraft; a lateral angle ofthe bridle (e.g., left and right of 180° line along the center line ofthe towing aircraft and air vehicle).

The controller 401 can also receive data relating to the stabilizersystem, which data can include position (extension and contraction) ofstabilizer component actuators. The controller can use this data to holdthe air vehicle at a certain position (with a few degrees) behind thetow aircraft, tow ship, tow boat, or land based motive apparatus.

The controller 401 further uses sensed data for its flight rules relatedto a landing sequence. The landing sequence data can include but is notlimited to actual forward airspeed from sensors, from which speedincrease and decrease as well as position can be determined by thecontroller. The controller 401 can also receive data relating to whetherthe connection to the tow craft (e.g., the tow line) has been released.The controller 401 can receive data relating to rotor disk angle ofattack to maintain bridal tension and vertical position. When in freeflight the controller 401 can monitor the flight speed and once thebridal, e.g., the tow line, is release, then the ground radar on the airvehicle is activated. Using the ground radar or the forward velocitythen controller 401 can autonomously control the position of the rotordisk (e.g., blade) angle actuator to control the position of the blades.Near the ground, e.g. within 100 feet or within 20 feet of the ground,the controller further increases the rotor disk (e.g., blade) angle. Theincrease in the rotor disk angle need not be linear and can increasefaster as the ground approaches based on both the speed (decent andforward) and the distance to the ground. In an example, the controllerfurther has the pre-rotor motor add power to the rotating bladesimmediately before the landing gear touches the ground. The controllercan further use data from the load sensors to sense when touchdownoccurs as the load will increase on these sensors at touchdown. Whentouchdown occurs, the controller 401 will cut power to the pre-rotormotor. The controller 401 can engage rotor brakes and or landing gearbrakes. In an example, the controller 401 can autonomously perform, oneor more of the preceding functions.

The controller 401 can further employ the above control of the airvehicle 100 flight even while still tethered. In an example, the airvehicle 100 is tethered a winch fixed to the motive apparatus. The winchcan bring the vehicle toward the ground by winding in the tether line.As the vehicle 100 approaches the motive apparatus, e.g., a ship or aland vehicle, the controller 401 can still control the flight of the airvehicle 100.

A communication system 520 is in communication with the controller 401and is adapted to communicate with other devices outside the air vehicle100 for remote communication 580. The remote communication 580 can bewith other vehicles 100, the tow aircraft, tow watercraft, land vehicle,or with ground based communication devices. Accordingly, real timeexternal data and commands can be received by the controller 401 andflight performance can be altered by the controller interpreting thisdata and/or commands to generate control signals to controllablecomponents in the air vehicle.

The sensors 541-549, 551 can be adapted to sense various data thatrelate to performance of the air vehicle 100 or add tosurveillance/electronic warfare and electrically communicate the senseddata to the controller. The sensors 541-549, 551 can send raw sensordata to the controller 401 for interpretation. In an example, thesensors 541-549, 551 include processing circuits that interpret the rawdata into data that can be used by the controller without furtherprocessing. A weather data source 541 senses various weather conditions,including visibility, rain, sun light, cloud cover, cloud height,barometric pressure, among others. In an example, the weather datasource 541 is a sensor that senses the weather and can be mounted to thebody of the vehicle such that the sensor can sense weather outside thevehicle body. A weight sensor 542 is adapted to sense the weight of thevehicle and can be mounted to at least one part of the frame. In anexample, a weight sensor 542 is mounted to each of the legs of thevehicle frame to provide data from which the controller 401 candetermine or derive the vehicle's center of gravity. A satellite imagerysource 543 is adapted to sense satellite imagery data sent to thevehicle from remote device, such as directly from a satellite or from atow craft. Thus current satellite imagery is available to the controllerto make in flight corrections in essentially real time after takeoff. Anairspeed sensor 544 senses the airspeed of the vehicle. A power sourcesensor 545 senses at least one of the consumption of power from thepower source or the actual power stored in the power source. Thecontroller can use the power source data to reduce power consumption ifneeded to complete the flight plan. An altitude sensor 546 senses theheight of the vehicle above the ground. A vehicle telemetry sensor 547senses the real-time position of the vehicle 100 and can use signalsfrom global navigation systems. A mast position sensor 548 determinesthe position of the mast 130 of the autogyro assembly 100. Thecontroller 401 can use the mast position sensor 548 to correctlyposition the mast 130 within in its range of movement in a horizontalplane of movement to position the mast in as close to the center gravityof the loaded vehicle as possible to improve the flight characteristicsof the vehicle. A propulsion sensor 551 can sense operation of a motorand propeller in the embodiment where the vehicle has a propulsionsystem.

In operation the controller 401 can use stored data in the database 516with sensed data from sensors 541-549, 551 to control flight of thevehicle when loaded with cargo or while being towed or in asurveillance/electronic warfare mode. The controller 401 can alsooperate as an autonomous vehicle return system using the stored data inthe database 516 with sensed data from sensors 541-549, 551 to controlflight and return an empty vehicle back to its designated home position.In an example, a tow craft such as a plane, a vehicle with a propulsionsystem, a balloon, boat, ship, truck, or other lift devices can provideforward movement such that an empty vehicle 100 can fly on its own orsufficient altitude that a dropping of the empty vehicle will result insufficient forward movement so that the rotating blades provide lift tomaintain the vehicle 100 in flight. If the vehicle 100 becomesuntethered, it can return to the tow vehicle, e.g., a ship, and land ondeck. In another example, the vehicle 100 is released from the towvehicle and flies away from the tow vehicle in an attempt to decoy anadversary from the tow craft.

Surveillance or electronic warfare electronics 550 are part thecomputing or electronics package, e.g., controller 401, that are part ofthe air vehicle 100. The electronics 550 can include dedicated circuitsto perform surveillance tasks, radar imaging, or other electronicprotection tasks.

In an embodiment, the avionics package includes a micro controllercoupled to various sensors to directly implement a navigationalposition-aided inertial navigation solution, to implement the feedbackcontrol laws, to command the vehicle actuators, to manage communicationswith a ground control station via a built-in spread-spectrum radio (oralternately over the tether, to monitor vehicle health, and to managepayload equipment. The rotorcraft variant may include an externalmagnetometer and a laser altimeter to produce an adaptive control systemfor automating rotorcraft flight from take-off to landing withoutdependence on high fidelity modeling of the vehicle dynamics. Adaptationis used to manage the system nonlinearities from hover to high-speedforward flight. Missions are executed using a series of predefinedwaypoints. Multiple missions can be stored, and the mission beingexecuted switched in flight. Likewise, individual waypoints can bemodified, or new waypoints inserted in flight. Further, the mission canbe suspended at any time, with the vehicle automatically transitioningto a fully stabilized hover. A joystick input can then be used to “push”the vehicle around, up or down, or to change the heading so that theoperator can explore the world without having a predefined mission.Operation in this manner is referred to as “steering mode”. Fullyautomated take-off and landing makes it possible for an operator withoutremote-control piloting skills to manage flight operations. It ispossible to take-off and land with a remote control pilot when desired,and to engage and disengage the autopilot while in flight.

A microcontroller can be used on the ground to manage communicationswith the vehicles (multiple vehicles can be operated by a singleoperator), and is housed in a small portable suitcase. A hand-heldpilot's interface (e.g., in the style of a traditional hobby “RC”transmitter) attaches to the ground control station (GCS) with a cableand enables manually piloted flight of the vehicle when desired, oroperation of the vehicle in “steering mode”. Note that in the standardconfiguration, a single radio link with the vehicle is used for uplinkof both the pilot's inputs and commands from the operator station, aswell as for downlink of all vehicle telemetry data. The GCS alsoincludes a satellite navigational positioning receiver (e.g., GPSreceiver) so that the location of the operator can be correctlyidentified on map displays, and to provide differential navigationalcorrections to the vehicle when desired (differential navigationalsignalssan be beneficial to improve the navigation accuracy of thehelicopter, but is not required to accomplish fully automated flightoperations, including take-off and landing). A laptop or other computercan perform the ground control station function, and that in such casethe laptop is also typically running software to create a graphicaloperator interface. The GCS can employ a stand-alone microcontroller tomanage communications with the vehicle. A laptop is used to create agraphical operator interface, but because the laptop hardware/softwareis not used to manage the communications link, it is possible to networkmultiple laptops together at the ground station to support many possibletasks, and for any of those laptops to send commands to any of thevehicles being managed. Furthermore, if an application or the operatingsystem on a laptop crashes, it does not affect the overall ability tomaintain communications with the vehicle.

The radio equipment employed in the standard product is typically spreadspectrum in the 902-928 MHz band at 1 Watt. However, other bands can beused. Manufacturers of such equipment claim typical performance of 12miles line-of-sight with an omni-directional antenna, and 40 milesline-of-sight with directional antenna. It is possible to custom ordermodification of the standard radio equipment to obtain requiredfrequencies, to externally boost the power level of the standard radioequipment, or to substitute alternate external radio equipment andbypass the internal equipment. For operations beyond line-of-sight, acommercial satellite communications link has been integrated and isavailable as a plug-in communications option.

A primary interface to the vehicle can be created in software that runson a standard laptop, with software being instructions stored on amemory and executable by a machine, e.g., a computing device orelectronic device. The instructions can be for a graphical interface forconfiguring one or more vehicles, importing and overlaying various mapand image data, planning missions via waypoints entered on maps,interacting with vehicle's during flight to update, alter or suspendmission execution, monitoring each vehicle's health, archiving flighttest data, and so on. Note that because the system can be operated in afully autonomous mode, it is possible to define mission plans for faultevents such as lost communications. In such case, the system will returnto a pre-defined “lost communication waypoint”, and after a timerexpires to land at a designated landing location. The instructions andthe computing device also allow a user to configure the control systemin many complex and novel ways.

Of particular utility is the fact that the communications with eachvehicle can be managed via an open and published communications standardfor which a communications software developer's kit (e.g., Comm SDK) ismade freely available. This means one can readily develop stand alonesoftware applications tailored to specific needs and directly interfacethem with a commercial GCS product system. The system also includessoftware (machine executable instructions) for simulation of vehicleflight dynamics. The built in simulation model can be tailored to avehicle's characteristics via input of model parameters, or an externalrepresentation of a vehicle's flight dynamics can be input to the systemto produce real-time hardware-in-the-loop simulation with the avionics.Again this is accomplished with an open communications architecture forwhich a developer's kit is available. Thus it is possible to include inreal-time hardware-in-the-loop simulation using an internal or externaldynamic model, and to then export the state data for use in driving athree dimensional (3D) visualization of the world. Moreover, additionalparameters can also be input, e.g., weather conditions, likely weatherconditions, winds, or other data. This can be done with simulatorvisualization products, which can be customized to meet uniquerequirements. The pilot inputs can also be generated by an externaldevice, and communicated to the vehicle (both in simulation or in actualflight) using features of the Com SDK.

The system also supports development of plug-ins (e.g., additionalinstructions) to the system, which enables development of customfeatures. One example of the use of a plug-in is an available videosurveillance application that makes use of the helicopter navigationdata to indicate the orientation and field of view of a gimbaled camerasystem on the map displays within the software interface, as well asproviding the operator with live video feed and various controls formanaging the camera system from within a single unified graphicaloperator interface.

Another option is the incorporation of high-precision, automatednavigational (e.g., GPS) equipment. This plug-in option enablesnavigation accuracy down to the centimeter level for applications thatdemand very careful placement and control of the platform. This would beuseful, for example, in the precision mapping of terrain height usingthe onboard laser altimeter, or with a more sophisticated ranging system(e.g. LIDAR).

On board flight equipment can also house power regulation for addedcomponents, a high-precision GPS receiver, a second spread spectrumradio link to increase overall communications bandwidth with thevehicle, and a wireless network connection useful at close range forloading and removing large data files from the vehicle. Such a componentis extremely useful for collection of onboard sensor data at very highrates to support tasks such as system identification.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of the unmanned air vehicle 100immediately after takeoff. The air vehicle 100, which does not havesufficient engine power to fly on its own, is connected to a tow craft601, here shown as an airplane (however other tow craft or apparatus canbe used), by a tow line 603. The controller sends an instruction so thatthe motor on board the vehicle begins rotation of the rotary wing. Therotary wing is rotated to at least 30% of its desired rotational speedbefore the towing aircraft begins its forward movement. In an example,the rotary wing is rotated up to 50% of its desired flight rotationalspeed. In some examples, the rotary wing is rotated up to 75%, or lessthan 100% of its desired flight rotational speed. Once the rotary wingis at a take-off speed, then the towing craft 601 can provide theinitial propulsion to drive the vehicle forward such that air flows overthe rotary wing, e.g., the blades 135. The vehicle 100 can contain cargothat results in the vehicle 100 having a gross vehicle weight that is upto about the same as the towing craft 601. During takeoff, the cargobody 105 rolls forward on the undercarriage 103, which includes aremovable trolley that has wheels to allow the vehicle 100 to moveforward at direction of the towing craft with an acceptable lowresistance such that the towing craft and the air vehicle can achieveflight. In this example, the rotary wing of the vehicle provides enoughlift to achieve flight shortly prior to the ascent of the towing craft601. In the illustrated example, the vehicle 100 leaves the trolley onthe ground. The vehicle undercarriage can include further landingdevices such as wheels, skis, etc. In an example, the vehicle 100 takesoff before the towing craft 601 to establish a flight formation with thevehicle 100 at a slightly higher altitude than the towing craft 601 atthe time of takeoff.

In an example, the tow line 603 includes, in addition to being amechanical connection between the towing craft 601 and the air vehicle100, electrical communication lines between the towing craft 601 and theair vehicle 100. In some embodiments, the tow line 603 can include anynumber of ropes (synthetic or natural fibers), cables (metal orpolymer), wires, and/or other connective structures that are or becomeknown or practicable. In an example, the tow line 603 includes a powercable component that is electrically insulated from a signal line andthe mechanical component. The tow line 603 can connect an electricalpower source on the towing craft 601, e.g., an electrical generator oralternator which are driven by the aircraft motor, to the vehicle 100.Both the craft 601 and vehicle 100 can include outlets at which theelectrical communication line of the tow line 603 is connected. The towline 603 can further provide bidirectional communication between thetowing aircraft 601 and the controller of the vehicle. The pilot orcaptain of the tow craft 601 can send data and/or commands to thecontroller of the vehicle 100. The craft 601 can further automaticallysend data to the controller of vehicle. As a result the sensors on thecraft can provide additional data that can be used by the controller,e.g., 401, to control flight of the vehicle 100. In an example, thecontroller controls the angle of incidence of the rotating blades basedat least in part on data communicated from the towing aircraft 601. Thecontroller can further take into account data that is received fromon-vehicle sensors as well.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic view of the unmanned air vehicle 100 in flightand being towed by the craft 601. The craft 601 continues to provide thethrust to move the vehicle 100 through the air such that the air passesover the rotary wing (e.g., airfoil blades 135), which provides the liftto the vehicle 100. In flight, the vehicle 100 typically flies at aslightly higher altitude than the craft 601. In an example, the vehicle100 flies at an altitude whereat the turbulence from the towing craftdoes not affect the flight of the vehicle 100. The altitude of thetowing craft 601 can be sent to the vehicle 100 over the tow line 603.In an example, the altitude of the towing craft can be sent over awireless connection (e.g., communication components 520, 580) to thevehicle 100. The control system of the vehicle 100 can then set thealtitude of the vehicle based on the data received from the towing craft601. In an example, the control system (e.g., controller 401) of thevehicle can receive altitude data from sensors onboard the vehicle andset the flight altitude based on this data. The controller can set theangle of the rotor 701, which changes the angle of incidence of theairfoil blades by activating actuators to move the hub and or bladesthemselves.

The towing craft 601 tows the air vehicle 100 to the landing zone. Thetow craft 601 tows the air vehicle 100 over the landing zone. Thesensors onboard the air vehicle 100 sense various characteristics at thelanding zone. The control system, e.g., controller 401, uses this datato calculate a flight path for landing the vehicle at the landing zone.In an example, the towing craft 601 can also sense characteristics andsend the sensed data to the vehicle. In an example, the towing vehiclereleases the vehicle 100 prior to the landing zone and the vehiclecalculates a flight path based on stored data, such as flight rules anda stored target landing zone, as it approaches the target landing zone.The flight path may be stored in the memory of the control system andthe controller can change the flight path based on current, sensed data.The vehicle 100 itself may circle the landing zone to have time to senseground and flight data. In an example, the vehicle 100 includes a groundsensor, such as an imager, radar, laser guide, a camera, a radiofrequency sensor, to determine the condition of the landing zone.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic view of the unmanned air vehicle 100 after itis released from the tow craft 601. Vehicle 100 continues to fly butwill gradually loose air speed and, hence, lift. The stabilization offlight angles (roll, yaw and pitch) and the rates of change of these caninvolve horizontal stabilizers, pitch of the blades, and other movableaerodynamic devices which control angular stability, i.e., flightattitude, horizontal stabilizers and ailerons can be mounted on thevehicle body. Each of these devices can be controlled by the controller.During this free flight, i.e., free from a propulsion device, such asthe airplane or a helicopter, the rotor angle 801 increases. The rotorangle 801 is measured along the plane of rotation of the blades relativeto the plane of the ground. Accordingly, the angle of incidence of theairfoil blades likewise increases.

FIG. 9 shows a schematic view of the unmanned air vehicle 100 atlanding. The air vehicle 100 flares at the landing so that is can landwith a near zero forward momentum at the ground. This flaring action iscontrolled by the controller and results in the rotor angle 901 beingfurther increased relative to rotor angles at the takeoff profile angle611 (FIG. 6), the flight profile angle 701 (FIG. 7), and free flightprofile angle 801 (FIG. 8). As shown the rotor angle 901 can be about 45degrees, +/−5 degrees. In an example, the rotor angle 901 is less thanabout 60 degrees, +/−5 degrees. The controller can control the degree offlare at landing depending on the landing conditions. For an example, ifthe vehicle will land on a runway that is suitable for the landing gearon the undercarriage, e.g., wheels on a paved or unpaved prepared runwayor skis on a snow or ice runway, the flare angle may be less than 45degrees and the vehicle will roll to a gentle stop while still havingforward velocity at touchdown for stability. If landing in rough,unprepared terrain, the flare may be severe to reduce the ground roll asmuch as possible to protect the vehicle and landing environment fromdamage. In an example, the air vehicle 100 can land in a landing zone ofless than 500 feet in length. In an example, the landing zone is lessthan 300 feet in length. In an example, the landing zone is a minimum of50 feet. In an example, the landing zone is a minimum of 100 feet. Thecontroller can land the vehicle in a landing zone that is twice thewidth of the vehicle.

In a maritime embodiment, the vehicle 100 can land on deck of a watercraft by employing the above methodology and essentially bleeding offall forward airspeed within a few feet of the deck. The instructions forlanding the vehicle 100 can be stored in a memory on the vehicle itselfor communicated to the vehicle via the tow line with integratedcommunication connection. In an example, landing instructions are sentto the vehicle over radio frequency communication.

Some applications may require the use of multiple vehicles to be flowntogether. Multiple vehicles can simultaneously deliver equipment andsupplies to remote locations for example for scientific expeditions,military uses, Antarctic expeditions, geological and oceanicexpeditions. The military uses can include surveillance and electronicprotection operations. Vehicles 100 can be configured so that more thanone vehicle can be towed by a single tug aircraft or water craft orland-based vehicle or multiple vehicles 100 can be flow by multiple tugaircraft or water craft or land-based vehicle. When in a formation thecontrollers 401 of multiple vehicles can communicate with each other toestablish and maintain a formation. In an example, the plurality ofvehicles can communicate with each other via their respectivecommunication systems 520 (FIG. 5B). The vehicles can maintain a safedistance from each other and, if present, other aircraft. Thecontrollers 401 can make adjustments to the flight control components,e.g., pitch control, vertical stabilizers, horizontal stabilizers, etc.,to maintain the formation. When released from the tug aircraft or othertowing craft, the controllers will control the flight of the pluralityof vehicles to safely land all of the vehicles at the designated target.The controllers 401 can further coordinate surveillance and electronicprotection operations.

Certain components for the vehicle 100 or 1000 can be removed from thevehicle after delivery of the cargo at a landing site. The controller401 is designed as a sealed, black box that can be released from theinterior of the vehicle body. The airfoil blades 135 can be releasedfrom the hub or the blade supports. The hub 132 can also be removed fromthe mast in an example. Any of the sensors 541-549, 551 can be removedfrom the vehicle. Any of the removed components can be packed in anintact vehicle 100 and flown out of the landing site. Thus, the moreexpensive components can be retrieved for later use on other vehiclebodies. This further reduces the cost of cargo delivery in the eventthat it is impractical to return to the landing zone to individuallyretrieve all of the air vehicles. In an example, up to five vehicles arebroken down with certain components removed and placed in a sixth airvehicle. This sixth air vehicle is retrieved using a towing aircraft oris a self-propelled model that flies itself from the landing zone. Thecontroller of the sixth air vehicle will control the vehicle during itsreturn flight.

FIG. 10 shows an embodiment of the air vehicle 1000 with a propulsionsystem 1005. The air vehicle 1000 can include the same components as theair vehicle 100 as described herein, including the controller 401,autogyro assembly 110, etc. The propulsion system 1005 includes a motor1010 that drives a drive shaft 1015 that extends outwardly of the bodyof the vehicle 100 to connect to a propeller 1018. A power source 1020is also connected to the propulsion motor 1010 and the controller 401.The motor 1010 can be a low power, e.g., less than 100 horse powermotor. In one specific example, the propulsion system 1005 is designedto be able to provide enough forward movement to the vehicle 1000 sothat the autogyro assembly 110 can provide the lift to the vehicle 1000to achieve and maintain flight. The motor 1010 and propeller 1018 areselected to provide enough forward movement so that there is sufficientair flow over the rotating blades 135 to provide lift to an empty oressentially empty vehicle. Accordingly, the propulsion system 1005 canrecover the vehicle but cannot deliver any heavy cargo. The motor 1010can be a 50 h.p. motor that runs on fuel stored in the power source1020. The fuel can be diesel fuel in an example.

In a further application, the propulsion system 1005 is designed to beable to achieve flight with the vehicle 1000 storing the airfoil blades135 and controllers 401 of at least two other vehicles 100. This allowssome components of a fleet of vehicles 100 or 1000 to be retrieved usinga vehicle 1000.

It will further be recognized that the propulsion system 1005 can beused to assist the towing aircraft in pulling the vehicle 1000.Accordingly, the vehicle 1000 can haul more cargo with less input powerfrom the towing aircraft.

If an engine fails in the propulsed air vehicle 1000, then the forwardmomentum of the air vehicle 1000 will continue to rotate the rotaryblades and gradually allow the air vehicle to descend to the ground asthe lift deceases as the relative movement of the air against the rotaryblades decreases. The air vehicle would slowly descend until landing.

FIG. 11 shows a method 1100 of flight for an air vehicle 100, 1000 asdescribed herein. At 1102, the controller is powered on. The controllercan then perform various safety checks and check of the operationalcondition of the sensors on board the vehicle. The controller canfurther power the sensors. The controller can check the power status ofthe power source to determine if sufficient power is in the power sourceor will be available to complete a flight. The controller can alsoperform checks of the electronic equipment such as the memory and thecommunication components.

At 1104, the controller requests and stores the flight data for thecurrent flight. The flight data can include data relating to a flightplan including, but not limited to, distance, flight altitudes,estimated time of arrival, landing zone, predicted weather, etc.

At 1106, the air vehicle is connected to a towing aircraft, watercraftof land-based-vehicle or to a launching device. The connection is atleast a mechanical connection to transfer power from thetowing/launching device to the vehicle. In an example, electricalconnections are also made.

At 1108, the airfoil blades are set to a prerotation position. Theprerotation position is a minimal angle of incidence to reduce drag onthe blades when being rotated. The purpose of prerotation is to assistin the takeoff by overcoming the initial inertial forces in the autogyroassembly in general and specifically on the airfoil blades. Accordingly,the prerotation position of the blades provides minimal, if any, lift.

At 1110, the airfoil blades are rotated. This is the pretakeoff stage.Once the blades are spun up to a desired speed, e.g., revolution perminute, the pretakeoff stage ends.

At 1112, the airfoil blades are set to a takeoff position. The bladesnow have an angle of incidence that can provide lift to the vehicle. Thecontroller can send a signal to actuators to control the position of theairfoil blades. The takeoff position has an angle of incidence greaterthan the prerotation position.

At 1114, the vehicle is moved forward by the towing vehicle or thelaunch device. The forward movement of the vehicle creates airflow overthe airfoil blades that are set to a takeoff position. This airflow overthe rotating airfoil blades creates lift that can achieve flight of thevehicle even when loaded with cargo that could not be flown by thetowing vehicle alone. The controller can set the angle of incidence ofthe airfoil blades to a flight position after the air vehicle isairborne. The flight position of the airfoil blades has a lesser angleof incidence than the takeoff position.

At 1116, the vehicle is launched and achieves flight as there issufficient airflow over the rotating airfoil blades to achieve flight.The controller can control the flight of the vehicle in response tostored data and rules, sensed data, and received inputs from the towingaircraft, fellow vehicles, or from ground communications. The controllercan set the angle of incidence of the airfoil blades. The flightposition of the airfoil blades has a lesser angle of incidence than thetakeoff position.

At 1118, the vehicle is flown from the takeoff location to the landingzone. The vehicle can be towed to the landing zone by an aircraft. Inanother example, the vehicle is launched and flies itself to landingzone. In an example, the vehicle is towed to a location where it cancomplete the flight to the landing zone on its own. Due to drag andother resistive forces, e.g., friction of the rotating hub, a vehiclewithout a propulsion system will glide to the landing zone. A vehiclewith a propulsion system can fly for a longer time and distance. If thepropulsion system is adequate to provide enough forward thrust so thatthe drag and resistive forces are overcome, the vehicle can fly for asignificant distance albeit at a slow speed.

At 1120, if needed, the vehicle is released from the towing aircraft.The release of the tow line can be in the form of a glider releasemechanism controlled by either the towing aircraft, pilot of the towingaircraft, or by the controller of the air vehicle. Once released, thecontroller controls flight components of the air vehicle.

At 1122, the airfoil blades are set to an approach position. Thecontroller controls the position of the airfoil blades. The approachposition has a greater angle of incidence than the flight position. Thiswill provide lift to keep the air vehicle airborne but bleed off some ofthe forward momentum and velocity to slow the air vehicle for approach.In an example, the takeoff position and the landing position have theessentially same angle of incidence, e.g., within one degree of eachother.

At 1124, the vehicle automatically flies to the landing zone. The airvehicle is in free flight on its own. As a result, the controller senseflight data and issues control signals to controllable components, suchas airfoil positions, any rotational damper in the hub or mast, and anymoveable component in the tail plane. The controller uses sensed data inflight rules or algorithms to output flight control signals.

At 1126, the airfoil blades are set to a landing position. Thecontroller can issue command signals to actuators to set the angle ofincidence of the airfoil blades. The landing position of the airfoilblades has a greater angle of incidence than the flight position or theapproach position.

At 1128, the vehicle has landed. The controller can no shut down some ofthe consumers of power to save energy in the power source. Thecontroller can further send a status report via the communication systemto a remote receiver, such as a ground station or the towing aircraft.The cargo in the vehicle can now be unloaded. In the event that thevehicle will be retrieved, the controller can indicate that the cargohas been removed by the load sensors indicating that the vehicle is nowat its empty weight. In a further case, other vehicles can be brokendown and stored in another vehicle for retrieval. The controller cansignal that the vehicle loaded with components from other vehicles isready for retrieval. The retrieval sequence of the vehicle is similar tothe method 1100.

In the above method 1100, the airfoil blades have a plurality ofpositions. The prerotation position sets the airfoil blades at an angleof incidence of about zero degrees. The takeoff position has an angle ofincidence of about 12 degrees. The flight position has an angle ofincidence of about five degrees. The decent or approach position has anangle of incidence of about 12 degrees. The landing position has anangle of incidence of about 20 degrees. The present example positionscan vary +/− one degree.

In the above method 1100, the controller can receive guidance signalsfrom ground or air control systems. The air control systems can be froman aircraft that knows an approach envelope and the landing site. Theair control system can send guidance data to the controller onboard theair vehicle. The guidance data can be on a radio frequency carrier wave.The ground control system can be at a remote location and know theapproach envelope and send guidance data to the controller. In anexample, the ground control system can be at or near the landing zone,e.g., within a mile or within 10s of miles or within a kilometer or with10s of kilometers. The ground system would then know of hazards at thelanding site that may not be stored in the air vehicle controller orknown at a remote location. Examples of landing zone hazards are trees,utility lines, rocks, enemies, temporary hazards, etc. The ground systemcan alert the air vehicle to these hazards or select a new landing zoneor guide the air vehicle around these hazards. The ground system cansend a radio frequency signal, a microwave signal, or a light/opticalsignal that can be received by the air vehicle controller.

FIG. 12 shows a method 1200 of flight path calculation for an airvehicle 100, 1000. At 1202, the controller is powered on. At 1204, thetakeoff location is entered. The controller can use on board sensors todetermine its current location and use that location as the takeofflocation. The controller 401 can select from a database containing allnearby airfields. In an example, the takeoff location is downloaded tothe controller. At 1206, a waypoint is entered into the controller. Theway point is a spatial location along the intended flight path of theair vehicle. The spatial location is a three dimension position of theair vehicle including altitude, longitude and latitude. At 1208, adetermination is made whether additional waypoints are to be entered. Ifyes, the flow returns to step 1206. If no, the method enters a landingpoint at 1210. The landing point includes the spatial location of thelanding zone. At 1212, a possible flight path is computed. At 1214, adatabase is accessed to determine know obstacles using the possibleflight path. At 1216, the flying weight is determined. At 1218, therelease point from the towing device (e.g., aircraft) is determined.This is based on the flight characteristics of the air vehicle and thelanding zone location and environment. As 1220, the final flight path isdetermined. At 1222, the final flight path is stored by the controllerin memory accessible to the controller during flight.

FIG. 13 shows a takeoff flight control method 1300. At 1302, the loadsensor senses when the load is lessened and essentially removed from thelanding gear. At 1304, the forward speed of the air vehicle 100, 1000 issensed. At 1306, the rotational speed of the rotor is sensed. This canbe done at the hub or based on rotation of the drive shaft. At 1308, theangular position of the rotor blades is sensed. The angular position ofthe rotor blades is measured based on the plane that the blades rotatein versus the horizontal plane of the ground or relative to the air flowthat flows against the blades. The angular position has an effect onlift and drag of the air vehicle. Each of the sensing operationsdescribed with respect to FIG. 13 communicates the sensed data to thecontroller. At 1310, the controller can use the sensed data to controlthe operation of the autogyro assembly including but not limited to therotor rotational speed, the rotor angle, an assist by the prerotormotor, if available, use of the propulsion system, and release of thetow line. The controller can trade altitude for forward speed to createmore lift. The controller can increase the rotor angle to create morelift as long the vehicle stays above a stall speed. The controller canactuate breaks to slow the rotation of the blades to decrease lift.

FIG. 14 shows a landing method 1400. At 1402, the release of the airvehicle 100 or 1000 from the towing vehicle is sensed. At 1404, theforward airspeed of the air vehicle is sensed. At 1406, the rotorrotational speed is sensed. At 1408, the rotor angular position issensed. At 1410, the altitude is sensed. This can be sensed by groundradar or by three dimensional navigational system signals. At 1412, therotor angular position is increased at a first altitude. At 1414, thecontroller can activate the motor to assist the blades in theirrotation. At 1416, the rotor angular position is further increases at aheight close to the ground. At 1418, the load is sensed. At 1420, thebrakes are engaged. The brakes can be rotor brakes to stop the rotation.The brakes can also be landing gear brakes to stop rotation of thelanding gear wheels or brake the landing gear skids.

In an example, the air vehicle can be released at an altitude of greaterthan 10,000 feet and then automatically using the onboard controller(i.e., unmanned) control its descent to a landing zone. Accordingly, thetow aircraft can remain miles from the landing zone to ensure its safetyif the landing zone is in a military area, particularly where and whenan enemy may be present or consider the target to be of high value. Theair vehicle, in an embodiment, does not have a running motor during itapproach or landing. Accordingly, the air vehicle is quiet as it is freefrom motor (e.g., internal combustion or turbine) noise.

While the above examples show the air vehicle 100 vehicle being towed bya plane, it will be understood that the vehicle can also be towed byother propulsion vehicles e.g., a helicopter. Another example of apropulsion vehicle is a winch that acts on a tow line to move the airvehicle 100 forward. The tow line can be automatically released once theair vehicle 100 has sufficient forward speed to create lift. Thecontroller can control the release of the tow line. The winch examplewould be useful with the propulsion embodiment as the propulsion systemcan keep the air vehicle aloft for an extended period relative to thenon-propulsed air vehicle.

The air vehicle as described herein includes an autogyro assembly thatprovides for stable low velocity flight. As the rotating airfoil bladesprovide lift and stability, the air vehicle does not require rollcontrols.

The air vehicle 100 or 1000 can be used in delivery, military,emergency, and agriculture uses. Agriculture uses can include aerialseeding or aerial spraying. Seed release mechanisms or sprayers can bemounted to the containers 105. The on-board controller can controloperation of the seed release mechanisms or sprayers. The agriculturaluses can further delivery feed to animals. A drop mechanism can bemounted to the containers 105. The drop mechanism can drop an entireload or can drop single units, such as single bales of hay. The on-boardcontroller can control operation of the seed release mechanisms,sprayers, or the drop mechanism.

The present air vehicle is to be compatible with unmanned aircraftsystem (“UAS”) of the U.S. Department of Defense or the Federal AviationAuthority. The military role of unmanned aircraft systems is growing atunprecedented rates. Unmanned aircraft have flow numerous flight hoursas either drones controlled from a remote location or as autonomousaircraft. The present air vehicle can be part of a UAS that performsintelligence gathering, surveillance, reconnaissance missions,electronic attack, strike missions, suppression and/or destruction ofenemy air defense, network node or communications relay, combat searchand rescue, and derivations of these themes.

The air vehicle as described herein operated on the principal of theautogyro and takes advantage of two features of thereof, namely, areduced takeoff and landing area relative to a powered airplanes and,second, its low speed and high speed flight characteristics. In anexample, the air vehicle as described herein can take off in little aszero fee of runway and in other examples, in less than 50 feet ofrunway. In an example, the air vehicle as described herein can land inunder twenty feet. Another feature of the air vehicle is its ability tofly slow and not stall. When the air vehicle stops its forward motion itslowly settles to the ground as the rotary wing will continue to rotateand create some lift as the air vehicle settles. In an example, the airvehicle can fly at speeds as low as 15 mph. This is based on the airvehicle developing lift with its spinning rotor hub blades. As a resultthe air vehicle has a larger speed envelope. Moreover, the vehicle iscapable of flying in a greater range of speeds than airplanes.

The air vehicle has the advantage of flying at a low speed without astall. The result of slowing of the air vehicle down too much is justthat the aircraft will descend gently. Accordingly, the present airvehicle has a major advantage over airplanes and helicopters—safety inevent of an engine failure.

The air vehicle can be used in remote areas, like those in Alaska,Canada, Philippines, and South America. The air vehicle can be used toprovide supplies, and even fishing boats, to lodges and to remotelocations. Oil and gas exploration and pipeline operations can besupported by air vehicle delivery. Other applications include mail andparcel delivery, disaster relief, and emergency medical and survivalsupply delivery. The container of the air vehicle can be modified tohold liquids from fire prevention and can act as a water bombing device.

The air vehicle further provides some of the hazards of military cargotransport by avoiding ground delivery. Moreover, the air vehicleincreases the capacity of each flight resulting in fewer flightsrequired to deliver the same amount of cargo. Moreover, the air vehiclecan deliver cargo where needed with landing the towing vehicle. This issafer for the pilot and ground transport team. The pilot need not landin a hazardous area. The ground transport team need not take the sameroads from the airport to the locations where the equipment is staged orrequired. The air vehicle can further be delivered in the event ofbrownouts by the use of helicopters, which do not require theelectricity-based assistance that many planes require. The air vehiclescan be used to stage a forward aerial refueling point. In an example,one air vehicle can include pumping equipment and any number of tankervehicles can be landed near the pumping vehicle to provide the refuelingpoint.

It will further be noted that the air vehicle is adaptable to any flyingcraft. As a result, aircraft that are not typically thought of as cargocraft can be used as cargo craft. In an example, a Scout-AttackHelicopter can deliver cargo by towing an air vehicle as describedherein. Moreover, the helicopter can tow its own support equipment as itdeploys.

The air vehicle further provides environmental, i.e., “green”, benefitsof reduced fuel consumption and the exhaust products by reducing eitherthe size of the aircraft used to carry a same load or the reduction inthe number of trips required to transport a same amount of cargo. Insome examples, the air vehicle can reduce fuel use by above 50% for thesame amount of cargo. In certain applications of the air vehicle 1500,fuel use can be reduced in a range of 70% to 90%. One measure of fueluse is the tonnage of cargo delivered per certain amount of fuel. Insome applications of the air vehicle 1500, the number of trips requiredby an aircraft is reduced by 75%.

The air vehicle 100 or 1000 as described herein can be adapted tosurveillance and/or electronic protection operations. FIGS. 15-18 show amaritime operation using the air vehicle 1500, as described herein. Theair vehicle 1500 is on a deck 1505 of a launch apparatus 601A, hereshown as a ship. It is within the scope of the present disclosure tolaunch the air vehicle 1500 from the back of a land vehicle, e.g., atruck, automobile, jeep, or other military vehicle. A winch 1510 isfixed to the towing vehicle, e.g., a ship, on which is coiled a linethat connects the air vehicle 1500 to the launch apparatus 601A (e.g.,ship). In an example, the air vehicle can have a mass of about 25 lbs.(and in some examples greater) to provide adequate electronicsurveillance. In some examples, the air vehicle 100 can be in the rangeof about 25-700 kg. The unmanned air vehicle 1500 (or 100, 1000described above) can have less than 150 lb gross vehicle weight, e.g.,about 100-150 lbs. GWT Unmanned Cargo Autogyro Glider (UCAG), whilesupporting 75 lbs. or less e.g., a 50 lbs. or less, sensor payload witha less than 15 foot blade, e.g., less than 10 foot rotor or in a rangeof about 8-10 foot rotor. This reduces mass and size can further reducethe radar image of the vehicle 100 and the ability to optically detectthe vehicle 100 by a person or through electro-optical means. The frameand container, which holds the controller and other electronics as wellas sensors, is configured with a minimal of flat surfaces to reduce itsradar signature. In an example, the autogyro assembly is unpowered andrelies on the forward movement of the ship 601A to rotate the blades ofthe autogyro assembly and create lift. In a further example, theautogyro assembly can be powered.

The air vehicle 1500 is launched by releasing the blades forauto-rotation, which can occur due to a headwind or forward movement ofthe ship. The controller (e.g., any controller described herein) cancontrol the pitch and angle of attack or any other launch setting. In anexample, the air vehicle 1500 only needs to experience a wind speed ofabout 10-20 knots to provide adequate rotation of the autogyro blades tolift the air vehicle 1500 off the ground or deck of the launchapparatus. When the air vehicle 100 has sufficient lift, the winch 1510can play out the line so that the vehicle 100 can lift off the deck1505. The controller can communicate with a winch controller through theline, which can include a data communication wire(s) integral with theline (e.g., 1511 in FIG. 16). The controller on board the air vehicle1500 can automate the operation of the winch as the controller isapplying flight algorithms to ensure its safe flight.

In a further example, the autogyro assembly is powered to conduct flightoperations using the air vehicle 1500.

FIG. 16 shows the unmanned, autogyro, air vehicle 1500 in its flightposition, rearward and above the towing craft 601A and above the waterlevel. The air vehicle 1500 can position its sensors at a significantlyhigher point than the towing vehicle 601A can position its sensors. Inan example, the air vehicle 1500 is hundreds (100s) of feet above thetowing vehicle 601A. In an example, the air vehicle 1500 at least onethousand (1000) of feet above the towing vehicle 601A. The sensorsonboard the air vehicle can increase in detection range about 3-5 timesthat of the towing craft 601A, e.g., a greater than 3 times increaserelative to the horizon detection range. The air vehicle 1500 caninclude optical sensors, passive electronic warfare (EW) monitoring,communication relay, active EW, e.g., radar platform. When the airvehicle 1500 is flying and operating in an active electronic mode, itproduces its electronic signature remote from towing vehicle 601A, whichadds to the safety of the towing vehicle 601A.

The air vehicle 1500 is under control of its controller and does notrequire fuel for a propulsion system, it can be made small and have asmall image, radar and/or optical. The air vehicle 1500 can stay aloftindefinitely, for example, days or weeks. The air vehicle 1500 isessentially all weather and can fly in the rain, snow, sleet or otheradverse weather conditions. Moreover, the air vehicle can senseimpending adverse weather at a greater distance and with greateraccuracy than the tow vehicle 601A. Indefinite flight can mean that aslong as an unpowered air vehicle has air motion over it rotor, it canstay aloft. The air motion can be a headwind or forward movement of theair vehicle, e.g., from the towing vehicle (ship, water craft, or landvehicle).

FIG. 17 shows a similar view as FIG. 16 but from a rear vantage point.Specifically, the air vehicle 1500 is trailing behind the towing vehicle601A. The vehicle 601A can be stationary and facing into the wind, whichcan provide the motive force to keep the autogyro, air vehicle aloft. Inanother example, the vehicle 601A is moving forward on the surface ofthe water. While the towing vehicle is shown as being on the surface ofthe water, it will be within the scope of the present disclosure to towor tether the air vehicle 1500 using a vehicle on land or submergedbeneath the surface of the water.

FIG. 18 shows the air vehicle 1500 at a position closer to the towingvehicle 601A, which can be in a launch operation or a landing operation.In either operation, the controller can control the winch operationbased on its sensed data relating to the actual flight data of the airvehicle 1500. In another example, the winch can be operated manually bypersonally onboard the towing vehicle 601A and the air vehicle 1500 canreact to the change in the line caused by the winch. That is, the airvehicle 1500 preserves itself while being played out from the vehicle601A or reeled in to the vehicle 601A.

Secure data transmissions can occur between the air vehicle 1500 and thetowing vehicle 601A over the line 1511 as the line can include ashielded wire that provides bi-directional communication with minimalstray electromagnetic radiation. Encrypted wireless communication canalso be used between the towing vehicle 601A (or other communicationdevices) and the air vehicle 1500.

The air vehicle 1500 can hover for a period of time with receivingforward propulsion from the towing vehicle 601A. In an example, thecontroller on board the air vehicle can sense or is signaled that thetowing vehicle is stopping or stopped. The controller can apply storedflight rules to remain aloft for a period of time. In one example, thecontroller turns the air vehicle 1500 to face into the wind, if any. Thewind blowing past the rotor blades will power the blades to providelift. In the case where the wind is strong enough the air vehicle 1500can stay aloft indefinitely. However, if sufficient wind is not present,the air vehicle 1500 can trade altitude for forward movement to providelift.

The electronics on board the air vehicle 1500 can provide a fullspherical coverage sensor coverage that envelopes the towing craft 601A.In a further example, the electronics on-board the air vehicle 1500provides sensor coverage for a partial spherical (e.g., a spherical cap)above the surface of the water or earth. It will be understood that thebottom of such a partial sphere may be curved to follow the radius ofthe earth. The air vehicle 1500 can also provide a long detection rangewith a fast communication time to the towing craft 601A. Electronics canbe provided onboard the air vehicle 1500 to filter false reads (e.g.,alarms) and provide protection of the air vehicle against hostileelectronic attacks. In some specific examples, the air vehicle 1500 cantrack a missile's trajectory and infrared signature. In summary, the airvehicle 1500 can apply sophisticated algorithms related to both imageprocessing and signal processing. The air vehicle 1500 can operate as astandalone system or can be integrated as part of an electronicprotection suite with other sensing devices, e.g., other air vehicles1500, aircraft, satellites, land-based sensors and others.

In a further embodiment, the air vehicle 1500 can include false imagingalgorithms that enlarge its electronic signature as a protection to thetowing craft 601A. In an example, the towing craft 601A is under threat,e.g., from a missile or aircraft, the air vehicle 1500 can be releasedand its electronics can increase it electronic signature and change itsflight pattern to mimic a target. In a further protection mode, the airvehicle can include launchable flares or chaff that change the heat andradar image of the air vehicle 1500 away from the towing vehicle 601A.

The above embodiments describe a small air vehicle 1500. In otherexamples, the air vehicle 1500 is scalable to a smaller size, whichwould require less lift to remain aloft, which may be useful over landborders. The air vehicle 1500 is also scalable to carry a payload of athousand pounds or more and, hence, can carry some of the mostsophisticated electronic protection systems.

In a specific example with the air vehicle 1500 being used in a maritimeoperation, the air vehicle 1500 can be folded to a 4×2×2 ft case andpositioned aft in a patrol craft sized between 20 and 40 ft. The airvehicle 1500 can be mounted atop a small 6-8 ft towing frame where thesensors are operated either perched from the towing frame for slow(e.g., harbor) operations or in flight underway on open water. The airvehicle 1500 can include a small electric motor that spins the rotor toflight RPM and then disengages as the operator releases the air vehicle1500. The air vehicle 1500 can fly as a kite and climb to about 250-300ft height on a 500-600 ft line. The air vehicle 1500 will orient intothe prevailing wind direction enabling the search path of the towingpatrol craft to take any desired. Power is supplied to the sensor viathe towing line, which incorporates a power, data and load bearinglines. Recovery can be made into the wind by winching the air vehicle1500 back to remount on the towing frame. Under normal operations theair vehicle 1500 does not touch the water. Once launched into the windthe air vehicle 1500 can fly in front of the patrol craft or at anyangle of prevailing wind. Failure modes for the air vehicle 1500 caninclude an inflatable raft-like landing gear for emergency waterlandings, on board batteries for temporary power supply and waterimmersion proof payload containers.

The air vehicle 1500 can also be modified to include a small propulsionsystem that would extend its untethered flight range such that it couldbe launched and untethered to investigate remote targets of interest.The air vehicle could then return to the tow vehicle (e.g., awatercraft) or launch site using its onboard flight controller.

The air vehicle 1500 for certain electronic protection operations willrequire an antenna. In an example, the antenna described in US PatentPublication No. US 2007/0146202 (which is incorporated by reference forany purpose) can be used and connected to the controller 401. The airvehicle 1500, 100 or 1000, including controller 401, can further includeelectronics such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,259,713; U.S. Pat. No. 7,125,175;U.S. Pat. No. 7,161,131; U.S. Pat. No. 7,604,197; U.S. Pat. 7,176,831;and US Pat App. Pub. Nos. 2009/0174596 and US 2008/0316125, all of whichare incorporated by reference for any purpose. If any of the documentsincorporated by reference conflict with the present disclosure, thepresent disclosure controls.

Referring to FIG. 19, a view 1900 of an air vehicle is shown, accordingto an embodiment. The components of the system have been generallydescribed above, with FIG. 19 displaying the unique body 120 having ashape and small, portable size option. The air vehicle 1500 can be usedas a component of a long endurance all weather force protection system.The autonomous and self recoverable tethered autogyro (e.g., a vehicle1500) provides a stable sensor platform for fixed and mobile persistentsurveillance operations. The system has a compact footprint, windgeneration self power system and is easily operated and deployed bynon-specialist personnel, such as soldiers or seamen. A compactfootprint can be on the order of feet or less than ten feet. Otherembodiments can have a size of less than two feet. Air vehicle 1500 isdesigned to support small austere, high altitude forward operatingbases, which can have high winds or other extreme weather conditionswhere other unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAVs that operate likeairplanes) and aerostats are impractical. In a similar manner, mobileoperations, such as convoys and tactical operations, can have a need fora dedicated, compact and easily operated persistent surveillance systemmounted on a vehicle. The air vehicle 1500, unlike UAVs, can provide aconstant over-the-horizon 360-degree surveillance capability optimizedfor asymmetric operations. Additionally, a smaller compact version canbe used for dismounted (e.g., ground) troops.

In operation, the vehicle 1500 and its ground support equipment can bestowed within a purpose built ground transportation vehicle or trailer,or in the case of smaller units, packed in a suitable transportationcase, which can be carried by a single person. The body 120 of thevehicle can be weather sealed and the entire vehicle 1500 designed forrapid assembly, disassembly and easy access for maintenance, in variousembodiments. An all electric propulsion system allows the vehicle to befolded into itself for transport and storage. The rotor blades can bepacked in one case while the complete airframe, base station, and launchand recovery system fits into a second transport case. The system casecan include the base station, winch, tether and tools.

At the time of deployment, the equipment is moved to the surveillancelocation and a suitable area for conduct of operations identified. Theconstraints associated with launch and recovery operations, and toaccommodate shifts in direction of winds can be determined.

The vehicle 1500 is quickly unfolded/assembled and the tether attached.The operator station is powered and initialized, followed by electricalpower being applied to the flight vehicle avionics (e.g., controller andsensors) and payload. Upon completion of a built in test, establishing avalid navigation system solution in the controller, a preflightinspection of the vehicle and payload is performed along with any otherrequired preflight checks. The battery packs for rotor power duringclimb are enabled, the ground-based winch mechanism for the tether isset, and the operator commands automatic rotor spin-up and launch of thevehicle with the tether slack. A vehicle ground constraint can be usefulin some launch scenarios, and will be released upon command afterachieving full rotor RPM. Vertical climb is initiated as the tether isunreeled. A twin engine tractor design can provide the necessary countertorque during power rotor operations, as well as precise control overthe vehicle trajectory during launch and recovery. Once clear of groundbased obstacles, some forward velocity can be employed for theefficiency of the climb operation. Once at altitude (1000 feet or more,for example), the autorotation state is established for the given windconditions with the tether taught, power to the rotor and thrusters isremoved and indefinite surveillance operations begin. Rotor collectivepitch is automatically adjusted to optimize the rotor RPM to maintainconsistent altitude. Power can be applied to the rotor for a period ifthe winds drop below the wind speed required to maintain a selectaltitude. The balance between system weight (principally, batterycapacity), onboard battery charging capability using energy extractedfrom the rotor, and tolerance for low winds can be determined. Anonboard battery pack can provide power to the electric motors during thetakeoff and landing sequence, or power the sensor pack if ground poweris lost or power the engines to return the vehicle to base in the eventof an extended ground power failure. The tether can provide anelectrical connection, e.g., power for the sensor pack and recharge thebattery pack during the sustained auto rotation.

When the vehicle 1500 reaches altitude the vehicle weathervanes into thewind and stabilizes, the motor to the rotor system de-energizes and thevehicle enters auto rotation. The main rotors are designed with a fulllength power band, (blade twist) this allows the vehicle to transitioninto a fully sustainable autorotation (autogyro flight). The tractormotors help maintain position as needed (powering the optionalpropellers). The main motor can provide about 15% to about 20% power tothe main rotor to maintain position during sporadic or mild winds,(winds less than 15 mph).

While in autogyro flight, the vehicle 1500 is nearly silent. The smallbody and main rotor disk are nearly invisible from the ground. Compositeconstruction for the body 120, and other components, also minimizes theradar signature. A data tether handles all communication between thevehicle and the base station minimizing the EMI signature.

The sensor package can be powered from the ground through a power anddata tether. A ground power generator, vehicle power, or base suppliedpower is converted into high-voltage low amperage and sent through thetether to a power converter on the vehicle. The converter powers theonboard systems, sensor pack and recharges the batteries. The batteriesprovide backup power in the event of a failure of the ground powersystem. Data is securely transmitted through the tether toreduce/eliminate the EMI signature. In the event of a tether datafailure the vehicle has a backup RF data transfer system. Operating asan autogyro and kiting on the prevailing winds the vehicle 1500 canmaintain position for an indefinite length of time.

During the recovery operation the vehicle system engines repower themain rotor and tractor engines. This puts a constant tension on thetether as the winch reels in the vehicle 1500. The operator canreposition the vehicle to clear obstructions. Recovery of the vehicle issimilar to the operation described for ascent. A positive tension may beapplied to the tether by the vehicle as the vehicle is reeled in.

A winch designed to support a tethered balloon-borne sensors system canbe adapted for use with the vehicle 1500 and towing vehicle 601Adescribed herein. The operator has full control of the variable speedmotor with precise control over the altitude and tension of the tether.A portable electronic cable winch can be optimized for the precisecontrol of vertically-lifted payload. As the system operates, the motorspeed is controlled by the user. Cable playout rates under various windconditions are set and stared in a controller for the vehicle or thecontrol system to control the operation of the winch or displayed to theoperator, who in turn can operate the winch and control the playoutrate. The winch can have an interface for both power and data transfer.

The winch system includes a sturdy reel to support the cable or line andan internal variable speed DC gear motor drive coupled to the reel. Lineplayout (e.g., unreeling) can be controlled by an anti-tangle mechanismsimilar to those used on large fishing reels. A durable waterproof highimpact plastic case protects the system and permits rapid setup. Reelspeed and direction are governed the operator and the base stationcontrol unit.

During continuous, persistent operation at altitude, power can beprovided to the vehicle 1500 in multiple ways. One or more of groundpower, airborne battery power, and power generation from the rotor canbe utilized to minimize system size and weight and maximize performanceand system reliability, and to provide good fault tolerance. A controland sensor package 1902 (including surveillance) can be mounted externalfrom the body 120 or as part of the body 120. A frontal perspective view2000 is shown in FIG. 20.

In a portable, or foldable embodiment (see view 2100 of FIG. 21),foldable mast 2102 can fold on a pivot or generally move to a positionadjacent the body 210. Blades 135 may be temporarily removed fortransport or storage. The retractable or foldable stabilization system2106 can slide into a cavity in the body 120 or retract underneath orabove the body 120, for example. Propellers, as part of the forwardpropulsion system or anti-torque system, can be foldable 2104 or retractadjacent or within the body 120, for example. Views 2200, 2300 and 2400of FIGS. 22-24 show an alternate geometry of an air vehicle 1500 inextended and foldable positions. View 2500 of FIG. 25 shows the fullyextended blades 135.

FIG. 26 is a schematic representation showing ground clearances. Rearblade ground clearance 2602 may be between about 6 inches to about 12inches, about 7 inches to about 10 inches or about 8 inches or more, forexample. Sensor ground clearance 2606 may be between about 5 inches and10 inches, about 6 inches to about 9 inches or about 7 inches to about 8inches from the ground. Front blade ground clearance 2604 or height maybe about 24 inches to about 48 inches, about 30 inches to about 36inches or about 30 to about 32 inches, depending on the angle of theblades, for example.

Referring to FIGS. 27A-D, a schematic view 2700 of folded and unfoldedpositions of the air vehicle are shown, without undercarriage ormovement devices, for clarity. In top view, FIG. 27A, horizontal tailextender width 2702 may be about 3 inches to about 7 inches, about 4inches to about 6 inches or about 5 inches in width. Folded propellerwidth 2704 may be about 12 inches to about 18 inches, about 13 inches toabout 17 inches or about 15 inches, for example.

In side view, FIG. 27B, nose to folded mast length 2706 can be about 15inches to about 28 inches, about 18 inches to about 24 inches or about20 to about 22 inches in length. Nose to retracted tail length 2708 canbe about 20 inches to about 30 inches, about 22 to about 28 inches orabout 24 to about 26 inches, for example. The height 2710 from a lowerbody surface to the folded mast can be about 10 inches to about 16inches, about 12 to about 14 inches or about 12 to about 13 inches.

In extended, or unfolded view in FIG. 27C, the front guidewire to taillength 2718 can be about 40 inches to about 56 inches, about 50 inchesto about 54 inches or about 48 to about 52 inches. Body height 2716 canbe about 10 inches to about 12 inches or about 12 inches in height. Mastheight 2714 can be about 12 inches to about 16 inches or about 14inches, for example. Total height (minus undercarriage, frame, etc) 2712can be about 20 to about 30 inches, 24 to about 28 inches or about 25inches in height.

FIG. 27D shows a top view of the extended vehicle including extendedtail width 2722, which can be about 12 inches to about 17 inches, about14 to about 16 inches or about 15 inches. Propeller width (between twofrontal propellers) 2720 can be about 16 to about 24 inches, about 18 toabout 22 inches or about 20 inches in width, for example.

Referring to FIGS. 28A-F, views of an air vehicle winch assembly 2800are shown, according to an example of the present invention. A winchblock 2802 can be attached or integrated onto a surface, such as a deckof a ship, for example (see FIG. 28A). The winch block 2802 can bemoveble or slideable and can be locked in place, either remotely ormanually. The block 2802 can optionally cover or protect a cable reeland also provide stability and security when an air vehicle is in annon-deployed position (i.e., reeled in). The winch block 2802 canoptionally cover and protect electronics, such as controllers, remotecontrols, remote locking receivers, etc. The cable reel located insideor near the winch block 2802 includes a winch cable 2816 (i.e., tetherline or tow line) in contact with an air vehicle, such as the nose 122of an air vehicle.

The winch cable 2816 passes through a winch assembly 2804 that includesa guide funnel 2808 and pivot member 2810. The pivot member 2810 caninclude a pivot pin 2818 or other mechanism for allowing the winch cable2816 and air vehicle to pivot while landing or being secured to thesurface. The pivot member 2810 can also include locking mechanisms, suchas a slip ring 2812 and fixed lock ring 2814. The pivot member 2810 canalso be in contact with a data/power cable 2806 that is in electricalcommunication with the air vehicle. The locking mechanisms can becontrolled remotely or manually. The guide funnel 2808 can pivot on thewinch block 2802 as the air vehicle is reeled in to line up with thenose 122.

Ball bearings 2820, such as ratchet-type ball bearings or a pivot ball,can be utilized to facilitate the pivoting of the guide funnel 2808 andpivot member 2810 (see views in FIGS. 28D and 28E). The ball bearings2820 rotate freely with the winch cable 2806, keeping the guide funnel2808 aligned with the air vehicle. When the pivot member 2810 locks withthe air vehicle, the winch block 2802 can also lock in place (ifmoveable) to secure the air vehicle to the surface or deck. A shut downor stop switch can be incorporated into the pivot member 2810, winchblock 2802 or funnel guide 2808 to stop the winch reel. The shut down orstop switch can be controlled remotely or manually, for example.

A controller can communicate with a winch controller through thedata/power line, which can include a data communication wire(s) integralwith the line (1511 in FIG. 16). The controller on board the air vehicle1500 can automate the operation of the winch as the controller isapplying flight algorithms to ensure its safe flight. A portableelectronic cable winch can be optimized for the precise control ofvertically-lifted payload. As the system operates, the motor speed iscontrolled by the user. Cable playout rates under various windconditions are set and stared in a controller for the vehicle or thecontrol system to control the operation of the winch or displayed to theoperator, who in turn can operate the winch and control the playoutrate. The winch can have an interface for both power and data transfer.

The air vehicle as described herein can operate as is or supplementmaritime patrol craft to counter piracy and counter drug smuggling. Theair vehicle can further operate as an electronic warfare platform andoperate sensors, missile decoys, displace electromagnetic signature. Theair vehicle can extend the range of the coastal patrol craft to protectmore area at a given time and increase law enforcement effectiveness.The air vehicle can also be used to monitor fishing area economic zonesas well as environmental monitoring.

The air vehicles described herein can further include a transponder toemit a identification signal to identify the vehicle as a friend or afoe as well as identify its position to other aircraft. The positioninformation can also be used in the control systems to alter the flightpath of the vehicle to keep the vehicle away from desired flight pathsor investigate particular areas.

In the case of anti-piracy operations, the air vehicle 1500 could bemounted in a cargo container and when the ship begins to navigatepotential piracy waters, the cargo container can be opened and the airvehicle with sensors can be launched. The container can include a winchsystem as described herein or the air vehicle can fly freely and monitorthe surrounding waters for the ship.

The above flight method(s) described with respect to FIG. 11-14 can alsobe used with other embodiments of air vehicles, e.g., air vehicles 1500and/or embodiments shown in FIG. 19-28E. The air vehicle of theseembodiments would, in some applications, remain tethered to the towingwater craft or land vehicle. As a result, the controller in these airvehicles would compensate for the operation of the towing vehicle. Theair vehicle, in some embodiments, would have sufficient power to takeoff and/or land without forward movement of the towing craft or aheadwind. This is possible when the air vehicle is small andlightweight. The power to turn the rotor or drive a propeller can bereceived from a towing vehicle's power source through the connectingcable from the towing vehicle to the air vehicle, e.g., 1500. Thepowered air vehicle can also change altitude, e.g., climb, on its own toachieve various tasks. Such tasks can include, but are not limited to,seeking a steadier air flow, reducing turbulence, increasing sensorrange, increasing sight line, evading detection, providing a falsesignature that looks more like an aircraft (e.g., a helicopter), seekinga different air flow direction among others. In an example, thecontroller on board the air vehicle makes the decision to execute thesetasks. In another example, the instruction to execute one of these tasksis sent from the towing vehicle to the air vehicle, e.g., over thephysical connection or sent wirelessly to the air vehicle. In anexample, the air vehicle can climb to a determined altitude and thentransition to auto-gyro flight mode. The flight climb can be controlledby the on-board controller, which uses its sensors, e.g. sensorsdescribed with respect to FIG. 5B, to determine flight characteristicsand control the flight based on those sensed characteristics along withthe operation of the winch and the cable connecting the air vehicle withthe towing vehicle.

The controller onboard the air vehicle, e.g., 1500 or shown in FIGS.19-28F, can also conduct a flight operation when the towing vehicle,e.g., a water craft or land vehicle, stops its forward movement. In thiscase, the controller senses the flight data and if necessary to maintainflight, will engage a motor to either rotate the rotor or engagepropellers, if available, to maintain the flight of the air vehicle. Theair vehicle can also sense if a sufficient head wind is available tomaintain flight. If so, then the motor need not be engaged. Statedanother way, if the towing vehicle, e.g., a water craft or land vehicle,slows down or stops, the wind may change to a trail direction producinga zero relative airspeed across the rotor of the air vehicle. In thiscase, the controller can power the motor for rotor to maintain flight.The controller can also reposition the air vehicle to a headwindposition. If the headwind is sufficient to maintain flight, then themotor can be turned off. If the headwind is not sufficient to maintainflight, then the controller decides on the duty cycle of the motor,e.g., greater than zero percent to one hundred or less.

In a further example, the towing vehicle cannot maintain a steadycourse, i.e., cannot remain in a straight line or a steady broad turn,e.g. a large radius turn such that the towing cable between towingvehicle and air vehicle remains under some tension for most of the time.In this case, the controller can selectively activate the motor toprovide a propulsive force to the air vehicle to maintain a steadyflight. This may be particularly useful when the towing vehicle isfollowing a torturous path or conducting evasive maneuvers. In such aninstance, the controller can power the flight of the air vehicle tomaintain its flight path or conduct its own maneuvers separate from thetowing vehicle.

In an example, the controller on the air vehicle, e.g., 1500, canrelease itself from a tow cable for free flight from the towing vehicle.The air vehicle can operate as a decoy or stay aloft to emit anemergency signal to improve rescue operations.

Structures, methods and systems for a towable, unmanned flying vehicleare described herein. Although the present invention is described withreference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident thatvarious modifications and changes may be made to these embodimentswithout departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention.Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R.§1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quicklyascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted withthe understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit thescope or meaning of the claims. All documents referred to in the paperare hereby incorporated by reference for any purpose. However, if anysuch document conflicts with the present application, the presentapplication controls. In addition, in the foregoing DetailedDescription, it can be seen that various features are grouped togetherin a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure.This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting anintention that the claimed embodiments require more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing onits own as a separate embodiment.

1. An air vehicle to be towed by a surface vehicle, comprising: anunmanned flight body; an autogyro assembly connected to the flight body,the autogyro being adapted for unmanned flight; a controller to controloperation the autogyro assembly for unmanned flight; and a sensor todetect other objects adjacent the air vehicle.
 2. The vehicle of claim1, wherein the sensor is to provide electronic protection to the surfacevehicle.
 3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the sensor increases asensor range by at least 3 times relative to a horizon detectiondistance.
 4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the flight body includes aconnection to a tow line that is connected to a winch that can play outthe line and is mounted to the surface vehicle and wherein at least oneof the winch, the surface vehicle or both provide forward motive forceto the autogyro assembly.
 5. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the flightbody includes an electrical connection to connect to a powered surfacevehicle to provide electrical energy to the controller and the sensor.6. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the autogyro assembly comprises amast extending from the container, a rotatable hub on an end of themast, and a plurality of blades connected to the hub.
 7. The vehicle ofclaim 6, wherein the autogyro assembly comprises a motor to rotate theblades prior to lift off to assist in take off, and wherein the motordoes not have enough power to power the air vehicle through takeoffabsent a further motive force.
 8. The vehicle of claim 6, wherein thecontroller is to sense forward motion to control the autogyro assembly.9. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the controller is to receive signalfrom a propulsion device and to control the autogyro assembly using thereceived signal.
 10. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein the controller isto control the rotational speed of the hub, wherein the autogyroassembly comprises actuators to control angle of the plurality ofairfoil blades, and wherein the controller controls the actuators, andwherein the flight body comprises a container to house the controllerand the sensor, a flight stabilizer, and an undercarriage to support thecontainer when on the ground.
 11. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein thecontroller is to issue control signals to position airfoil blades fordifferent stages of flight.
 12. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein thecontroller is to receive signals from other controllers of nearby airvehicles.
 13. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein the winch comprises: awinch block; a pivot member in contact with the winch block; a guidefunnel in contact with the pivot member; and a a tow line, in contactwith at least one of the pivot member, guide funnel, winch block and theair vehicle.
 14. A detection system comprising: a towing vehicle; and anair vehicle in communication with the towing vehicle, the air vehiclecomprising: a flight body; an autogyro assembly connected to the flightbody; a controller to control operation the autogyro assembly forunmanned flight; and a sensor to detect other objects adjacent the airvehicle.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the air vehicle is adaptedto provide electronic protection to the towing vehicle.
 16. The systemof claim 14, wherein the sensor increases a sensor range by at leastthree times relative to a horizon detection distance.
 17. The system ofclaim 16, wherein the towing vehicle is a water craft.
 18. The system ofclaim 17, wherein the water craft includes a winch including a linewindable thereon and connected to the air vehicle.
 19. The system ofclaim 17, wherein the controller operates the winch.
 20. The system ofclaim 16, wherein the flight body includes a connection to connect to apowered land vehicle or water craft to provide forward motive force topower the autogyro assembly.
 21. The system of claim 20, wherein theautogyro assembly comprises a mast extending from the container, arotatable hub on an end of the mast, and a plurality of blades connectedto the hub.
 22. The system of claim 20, wherein the autogyro assemblycomprises a motor to rotate the blades prior to lift off to assist intake off, and wherein the motor does not have enough power to power theair vehicle through takeoff absent a further motive force.
 23. Thesystem of claim 22, wherein the controller is to sense forward motion tocontrol the autogyro assembly.
 24. The system of claim 23, wherein thecontroller is to receive signal from a propulsion device and to controlthe autogyro assembly using the received signal.
 25. The system of claim23, wherein the controller is to control the rotational speed of thehub.
 26. The system of claim 23, wherein the autogyro assembly comprisesactuators to control angle of the plurality of airfoil blades, andwherein the controller controls the actuators.
 27. The system of claim26, wherein the controller is to issue control signals to positionairfoil blades for different stages of flight.
 28. The system of claim26, wherein the controller is to issue a flight control signal to setthe airfoil blades for flight.
 29. The system of claim 14, wherein thecontroller is to issue a takeoff control signal to set the airfoilblades for takeoff, wherein the angle of incidence of the airfoil bladesis greater at takeoff than at flight.